I do not own Star Wars. This Fanfiction is just how I wanted to express my love for the Empire, Anakin and Vader.

The silence on the Padme's star skiff is than the soft hum from the engine, Anakin is left alone with his thoughts as he pilots the yacht. Down the hall, Padme rests in the small med-bay, her body weak and cold.

He feels that yearning again to go to her, to be by her side— longing for his own wife. Not that it's much different from before; stolen kisses, secret glances, and touches, only now he's not sure if even that is allowed. He remembers how she looked at him on Mustafar. There was fear there, real fear of what he would do, of what he had already done. All he wants is for her to stay with him; it's all he's ever wanted. Everything he's ever done has been for her; why is that so hard for her to see?

He knows why. It makes him sick.

Too long has she spent in the presence of Obi-wan and the other Jedi; too long has her mind been warped and poisoned.

His fingers tap away at the screens in front of him,setting the yacht on a course to Coruscant. He would not often opt for such a thing unless in the heat of a battle, but each moment that passes with Padme alone is a second wasted.

He pushed himself away from the controls and moves towards her room.

Anakin had always been jealous of the way that the people of Naboo loved her. The star skiff was one of many presents they gifted her, and much like everything else, it set a quiet fear in him. Before he found the truth, before he shifted from the light, he was an empty-handed monk who could give her nothing but a facade. He knew shedeserved more; her people did too— their love for her ran deep, and even though it was allAnakin could give her, he didn't know if this was enough.

His gloved fingers twitch at his side, and the door to the crude med-bay slides open. It's a small room with a single bed, a few machines, a beep and putter next to it. The small GH-7 medical droid hovers next to Padme, two of its arms extracting blood from her arm, the other pair fiddling with a tray at the foot of her bed. It turns its head to Anakin as the door shuts behind him.

"She's stable but weak." It says. Its voice is calm."You should leave her to rest."

"She is my wife," Anakin tells it through a clenched jaw. "I will be with her."

"You are injured. I will start diagnostics."

Anakin shoves it away. "You will not."

It stares at him for a moment, silent save for the quiet whir of its arms as it moves around. Its flat face is unblinking, just two cyan-colored lights looking right into his own.

"As you wish." It whistles. The vial of blood in its hand slides into an opening in its front. It then glides over to the other side of the room, a soft beeping undulating from its core. "I will give you some time alone." Its bright glowing eyes dim slowly then turn black.

Anakin is left alone once more with his 's a chair next to Padme's bed, and he quickly settles down into it, gripping her limp hand with his own. She looks sickly under these bright lights, far worse than she did on the ground of Mustafar— but perhaps it was the hellish tint of the planet that had masked the paleness ofher skin. Her hair— loose and curled with sweat— sticks to her forehead and cheeks. He reaches up and brushes it to the side.

Her eyes flutter softly at the contact, and Anakin's heart settles heavily in his chest. It's been a couple hours since they flew off, and her condition hasn't changed much. There's a pink to her complexion that is steadily growing, and her breathing isn't as labored, but he's yet to see her eyes.

"Padme," Anakin whispers. "Padme, my love."

A soft mumble falls from her lips.

"You have to wake up." He tells her, his voice more desperate than it's been in a long time. "I need you Padme, our children will need you. I've done all this for you; you can't go die on me now."

There's no answer to his pleas. Not even the medical droid wakes to ease his mind.

Too many nights has he woken with nightmares of thismoment slowly slipping from his mind. His wife, cold and dead in his arms, himself too weak and too foolish to protect her. He thought that he could protect her with his newfound powers—that's all that they had been for— but nothing has changed.

You are a fool, he tells himself.

He leaves without another glance at her, his hand shaking with rage at his sides. He waits until he's in the seclusion of another room, far from Padme'schambers, and lets his anger take over. His body is weak and battered from the earlier can feel himself growing sluggish, but he screams and slashes his saber through the furniture until the room is smoking and everything has been reduced to ash.

He takes a moment just to breathe, even with the smoke and ash burning his lungs.

With his mind reeling and his body aching, he comes to a simple conclusion. The fault lies with Obi-wan.

He slips out of the room and back to the ship's central hub, where the holotable and transceiver are set up. He's been on enough ships and in more than enough communication rooms to know how these systems work. It only takes him a moment from sitting down to open up the controls and search through the security archive. With a ship of this size and importance, there's not a single doubt in Anakin's mind that there are external views of its surroundings.

The system is simple. All the recordings are logged by date and time. He finds what he's looking for in a matter of seconds. He brings the holograms up on the table in front of him, and he watches it play out over and over again.

Anakin wakes to the buzzing of his holoprojector in his pocket. It's a sudden return to reality, and it leaves him jarred and disorientated. It takes him a moment to remember where he is and why he's there. The room is dark, the only source of light being the security projection still playing on a loop in front of him. Anakin blinks few times before reaching into his pocket and placing the projector down.

The hooded figure of Lord Sidious comes into view,and Anakin sits up.

"Lord Vader," He greets. Anakin nods at him.

"I hear that your mission was a success, despite the...interruptions."

"I have done what you asked, yes," Anakin responds.

"And you have done what you set out to do," Sidious tells him. "There is peace, once again in the galaxy."

"Master, General Kenobi escaped Mustafar before Icould kill him. I need to apologize for letting him slip away." Anakin bows his head as he speaks,shame filling him like a flood. He should have killed him when he had the chance, not just because of the Order but for everything else— there's so much betrayal and blood on his hands, butas a Jedi, he believes himself to be clean. It disgusts him.

"There's no need. We were able to capture a few of the Jedi; any information we need out of them will be easy to get. I'd like you to return toCoruscant as soon as possible to take charge of that process."

"Of course, Master."

Sidious' figure flickers then goes dark. Anakin slipsthe projector back into his pocket.

"Anakin?"

His head whips up the archway. Padme is standing there, clutching the wall. The blanket from the med-bay is wrapped over her petite frame, but he can see her body is shaking even from where he sits. He rushes over to her and pulls it tighter around her body.

"When did you wake up?" He whispers.

"A couple minutes ago." She answers; her voice is raspy. "I had some time to think."

He guides her over to the table and sits her sinks down into the leather, and her body deflates. How much had she strained herself to walk here?

"You should be resting," Anakin tells her.

"No." She shakes her head. "Anakin, we need to talk about this. I don't know if I can forgive you. Don't you realize what you've done?"

"Don't you realize what I've done? The Jedi were liars,Padme. Hypocrites."

"And that gives you the right to kill them?"

"They're traitors, Padme."

He can see the way she bites her tongue behind her lips. She's always been blunt about how she feels; it's how she became so successful in her civic duties, but she also knows that there are times when one keeps quiet, especially when it might anger someone so fragile. He knows what she wants to say. He almost wants her to say it.

"I did this for you." He says instead, "I wish you could understand."

"Help me understand then because I'm lost."

"All this power, it's nothing without you." But, he tells her, "It's all to protect you. I have lived too long in fear that I might lose you. The Jedi were useless in that sense— to them, fear wasn't something I was meant to have— but Palpatine showed me how to use that fear, not just hide it away."

"What about your duty Anakin? Does that mean nothing to you?"

He shakes his head, "I have upheld my duty to the Jedi were preaching for the end of the Sith to bring balance to the force and the galaxy, it was their own demise that brought it."

Padme sits in silence. He can see the thoughts racing behind her eyes. Of course, she'll need time to come around, but she hasn't left yet, which Anakin sees as a good sign.

"I have something to show you,'' he says. "I thought it might help."

He guides her direction to the table where the projection is still open and playing. Anakin sits down next to her and, with a few taps of his fingers,restarts it from the beginning. She glances at him as she watches herself run down the back of the ship and into Anakin's arm but says nothing. Instead, she watches it in silence with him until it shows him carrying her back onto the ship.

"I don't understand," She says.

"Just pay attention."

He rewinds it and lets it play through again. This time he zooms in on the back of the ship where Obi-wan appears after a couple of minutes. As this has occurred, neither of them had noticed him, but now, the two of them watch as he steps out.

"Look there," Anakin tells her. He points to Obi-wan's figure and the way his hands move just moments before Padme's spasms start.

"You don't believe that—"

"I do, Padme. What else do you think could have happened?You died. Right in front of me." He exhales deeply and lets his head fall forward, resting his forehead on the table. He can feel her hesitance through the force, but there's a part of her that wishes to reach out as well. "You died."

"But you saved me," She responds. She doesn't sound as though she's comforting him. Anakin turns his head slightly so that he can watch her through the space between his bangs. Her eyes are downcast, but her brows are furrowed, deep in thought. "Obi-wan left."

"He ran, yes."

"He left me there. He didn't know I was dead." Hervoice catches in her throat. "Why would he do that?"

She stands from the table slowly, brushing off Anakin as he goes to help her. She mumbles to herself quietly as she shuffles out of the room.

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Anakin finds himself a room near the medbay wherePadme had returned to. It's a couple doors down the hall, close enough to hear if she's in any trouble but far enough where she doesn't feel as if she's being watched. He can hear the shuffling of her feet as she paces back and forth. He wishes he could be there with her, helping her figure it out, but she's always needed to be alone during times like this— there's no one better to help her than herself.

They'll be in Coruscant by the morning. Sidious has a job lined up for him when he returns. He should do so in good shape. He pulls off his outerwear and cloak, sets them down on the table, and climbs into the small bed. His eyes are just starting to drift closed when he hears the door to his chambers slide open.

Padme doesn't say anything as she climbs into the bed with him. There's hardly enough room for two, but Anakin doesn't complain. Instead, he moves over against the wall so that she can settle in comfortably. They sit there in the dark as their eyes readjust, their features slowly becoming visible against the pitch. He wants to reach out to her.

"You can." Padme whispers, "It's alright."

He doesn't remember saying it out loud, but he's might have slipped from his lips. He reaches out and gingerly places his palm on the side of her face. She doesn't flinch away like he thought she might. There's something different about her and he can't quite place it.

"I love you, Anakin." She tells him. "I know you did this for good reasons."

He knows she wants to say that he's good. But they've long passed that. He doesn't try to argue though, it's a dead end. She'll say he's good and he'll tell her that he can't possibly be, not anymore.

"Then you'll stay with me?" His voice is quiet, almost hesitant, he hasn't felt this unsure in a long time.

She nods, and Anakin feels ten times lighter. He knows deep down that he couldn't do this without her, that something ugly would become of him if she had strayed.

"I have a condition, though" She interrupts his thoughts,"and it's not one I think you should accept lightly. But I feel as if it's the only way."

"Anything."

She exhales deeply. "You said you were stronger you want me to stay with you, then you need to get rid of Palpatine."