Synopsis: Padme survived Order 66 and is split from Luke and Leia, returning to Naboo to guard her own mausoleum disguised as her own handmaiden, Sabe. Meanwhile, Anakin, now Darth Vader, struggles to cope with her loss. Needing to know how she died and what exactly happened in an effort to alleviate his grief, Vader sets out to Naboo to investigate Padme's grave.

"I'll raise Leia as my own… we always wanted a little girl. She will be safe with us," General Organa offered. Padme nodded thankfully, but her face was full of deep sorrow, and she was exhausted from the events leading up to her birthing the twins. She had passed out after Leo's was born, and lost an immense amount of blood. Padme had been unconscious for nearly an hour, and Obi-Wan had feared she wouldn't not make it for a time.

Her mind flashed back to Anakin's grip around her throat, her lifeforce fading- yet even as his anger threatened her life and the lives of their children, she could not bring herself to hate him. There's good in him, she thought still.

"Thank you," she replied weakly.

"And the boy?" Obi-Wan interjected.

"Can't they stay together at least?" Padme cried. They had already discussed that it would not be safe for Padme to raise the twins herself. This broke her inside, yet she knew it was true. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Most of all, she wanted to return to Anakin if he were still alive and beg him to return to the light side of the Force as she had done on Mustafar. Yet she knew it would be pointless, and now even more dangerous if Anakin was alive.

"No, Padme. We must keep all three of you apart for your own safety, as sorry as I am to say," Obi-Wan murmured gently. Padme nodded reluctantly.

"What about Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru?"

"Tatooine? His home planet?"

"He wouldn't dare go back, he hates it there," she murmured. He hates sand. He hates sand people. He hates the reminder that he was nothing more than a slave all those years ago, she thought.

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan replied, but with a lack of confidence.

"If he's even alive," Padme cried, tears streaming down her face. She looked up at Obi-Wan with the pained question written all over her face. Could he be alive?

"I do not know, Padme… I could not bring myself to finish him…" he said sadly, bowing his head in shame.

"But?" she whispered, barely audible. Obi-Wan only shook his head, the image of Anakin's body catching on fire and the smell of burning flesh still fresh in his mind. Padme only looked at him in shock, her heart breaking at the unknown horror of what happened to her husband.

"I… I don't know how anyone would survive something like that, even Anakin" he finished. Padme didn't ask any more questions about Anakin. After several long moments of silence in the room, Obi-Wan finally spoke.

"Padme, I will look after Luke from afar if he is to go to Tatooine," he offered. Padme smiled faintly, but quickly was washed away with the pain of knowing the two sleeping babies in her arms were to be ripped from her forever, never to be seen again for all she knew.

"There's no other way? I can't bear leaving them, I just gave birth to them, I lost Ani, I have no one, nothing," Padme sobbed. The panic of it all had set in, her heart raced and she felt as though she were about to pass out. The monitor beeped angrily, coinciding with her heart rate.

"They will be safe, Padme. I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan sighed, placing a hand over hers in reassurance. "It is best if the children are separated soon, but take whatever time you need before we depart." Padme did just that. She looked down at her two babies, all that remained of her former life and husband. Leia looks like Ani, she noted sadly. The boy looked much more like her. She stroked their tiny hands, kissing them on their foreheads.

"I love you both, so, so much," Padme cried. Obi-Wan, General Organa, and the rest of them waited outside the room, watching from afar as to give her her privacy. Eventually, Obi-Wan entered the room. Tears streamed down Padme's face like two rivers.

"No, please, Obi-Wan, I can't do this," she sobbed.

"Padme…" he chided gently. Shaking, she reluctantly handed the children to him and General Organa. When they left her hands, she crumpled like a tissue in the bed. She had officially lost everything. Jar Jar Binks sat next to her bedside, his big sad eyes looking down at her.

"There will be a mock funeral held in three days on Naboo. Sabé will be in the casket with a fake stomach, so no one will believe any of you have survived. The Empire will not look for you if everything goes according to plan," Obi-Wan said.

"What will a-happen to's a-Padme?" Jar Jar asked. Obi-Wan shook his head.

"I don't know, Jar Jar. I'm trying to think of something-"

"My place is on Naboo," Padme snapped.

"That is not wise-"

"I have lost my husband, my children, my entire life; I will not lose my home too," she argued. Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to argue with her in what would be their final moments in seeing each other, possibly ever again- especially after all she had been through.

"Why does she no pretend to be Sabé? No ones woulds a-notice a difference," Jar Jar proposed. Obi-Wan looked at Jar Jar suspiciously.

"That's either the smartest thing I've ever heard, or the dumbest thing you've ever said, Jar Jar," he half-scolded, half-considered.

"I'd be home. I'd be hiding in plain sight, and never have to hide my face… My other handmaidens could watch out for me t00… Jar Jar, that's genius!" Padme exclaimed. Obi-Wan nodded after a while.

"Alright. Jar Jar will take you home to Naboo," he said. Obi-Wan hugged Padme gently, Luke in his other hand. She buried her head into his cloaks, which soaked wet with her tears.

"Will I ever see you again? Or Luke? Or Leia?" she whispered.

"I don't know, Padme… But I hope so, and I will do everything in my power to make that happen. I promise," he said passionately. Padme smiled slightly and kissed his cheek goodbye.

"Be safe, Padme." Obi-Wan said his goodbyes, and taking Luke with him, they were gone. Padme was left all alone in the bed, Jar Jar waiting by her bedside consoling her as she sobbed.

xxx

"Ani! Help!" Padme screamed.

"I'm trying, Padme! Where are you?!" Anakin screamed into the black void. Her pained moaning echoed all around him, and everytime he thought he knew it was coming from a particular direction, he would run towards it only to find that the source changed locations.

"Help me, God it hurts, I'm going to die!" her voice echoed. Anakin's heart was pounding, every fiber of his body in full panic. Finally, in the distance, he saw a light out of the darkness.

"Padme!" he yelled, racing over to what was a medical bed. It was covered in blood, the sounds of screaming fading to a complete silence. A body lay under a sheet, unmoving, soaked in blood.

"Please be alive, Padme, please," Anakin begged, frantically pulling the sheet off. To his horror, Padme was not under the sheet at all. Instead, the grotesque remains of a charred man screamed out in agony, its yellow eyes burning into him.

"I HATE YOU!" it screamed, spit and embers flying at Anakin. He tried to run away, Palpatine's voice ringing in his ears: It seems, that in your anger… You killed her.

xxx

Suddenly Darth Vader awoke with a jolt, his heavy robotic breathing coming to a ragged rasp. Sweat covered his body and his heart was racing. The room was dark, unfamiliar black silk beneath him and heavy black curtains blocking out the daylight. It was nearly noon.

He looked to his bedside looking for Padme, only to find it empty. That familiar pain sent a pang through his heart.

Ah, he thought suddenly, the memories of where he was and how he got there coming back to him in a daze.. It had been six months since Order 66 had taken place, six month since he had lost Padme. He had hoped the nightmares would have ceased by now, but they had only grown more relentless in the handful of nights he had actually slept.

Despite Vader's new master embracing aspects of the Force like pain, anger, suffering, and the like, Sidious had surprisingly been wise in leaving him to grieve as much as he desired. Even Sidious knew Padme was more important to him now, even in death, than anything or anyone else in the entire galaxy combined.

Vader seldom left his quarters since he had lost her. Most days he spent lying in bed listlessly, occasionally sobbing, and occasionally destroying various things around the Mustafar base in a rage. The entire planet disgusted him. Why did she die? Why couldn't I save her? Why? Why? Why?! He screamed to himself internally. Deep inside, Vader could not accept Padme's death. He was angry that Sidious had not been able to save her after all, or bring her back from the dead. He knew there were ways she could have survived. I would not have killed her. Never.

Darth Sidious sensed this disbelief and suspicion in his young new apprentice festering away in his room. This was not good. Sidious had continued to cement his rule in the galaxy, knowing the pressure building in Vader would reach a head. Vader had questions, and Sidious had no answers for him.

Vader reluctantly turned on the dimmed lights. It hurt his scorched retinas, and without his mask he was somewhat blind. He groggily got out of bed and washed his face with cold water. His wounds had almost healed completely. Even partially blind, Vader could see the damage done to his wrecked face: yellow eyes burning between folds of scarred, destroyed tissue fused together. His hair was gone, eyebrows and all. His nose was much smaller and looked melted. His lips were wrinkled and cracked. His skin was a pale gray marred with pink scar tissue. He was hideous.

Not that he cared. Padme was the only lover he would ever have, and she was gone forever. To hell what he looked like now. He was the most powerful person in the galaxy with an Empire at his helm.

And for what, he thought bitterly. He had lost the only thing that mattered to him, the only reason he turned to the dark side in the first place. Now all he had was his pain. And his rage.

Vader prepared himself to leave. The questions burning inside him were more painful than that of his flesh searing away. I must know what happened to her, he thought determinedly. Vader could not take another day lying in bed like this answerless. He put on his mask last, the custom design allowing him to breathe and see much better than without. With a turn, he headed down the halls and towards his master's quarters. He could sense Sidious, just as Sidious could sense him.

The confrontation has arrived, Sidious thought as Vader's heavy breathing flooded the room. Vader entered, standing before his master without speaking.

"My young apprentice, what a pleasure it is to see you out of your chambers. I take it you are feeling better," Sidious soothed with a fake reassurance.

"No, I have not," Vader rasped bluntly. "The nightmares of… her, torment me. I cannot take it any longer." At this, Sidious frowned. From the beginning he had manipulated Anakin's thoughts and fears, inserting false images of her dying in the night to lure him to the dark side. Now that she really was dead, he no longer did such things, but it seemed the trauma from it all continued on on Anakin's own tormented accord.

"You lost your wife only six months ago. You lost your child. It's understandable you would be tormented so much considering… the guilt must be unimaginable," Sidious murmured, hiding his smirk. He likes to watch his apprentice squirm as he blamed himself for Padme's death.

"I would not have killed her. I could not have. She was alive, I sensed it," Vader growled. He was shaking.

"Do you sense her now?" Sidious spat. A long pause followed.

"No."

"No. That's right."

"Why couldn't you save her? Or when she died, why couldn't you bring her back? How did she die? Tell me!" He snarled. Sidious frowned.

"The circumstances were not in my favor. There were factors that made such a thing impossible. You know if I could have saved her I would have, but I could not. I did not even know where she was! Only until her funeral on Naboo did we receive any word on her location or status. I'm sorry, my apprentice. The only logical conclusion is that your hold on her throat must have been too much for the poor girl to handle and the stress of it all..," he muttered.

"I must find answers. I must know if she is actually dead. I must know how she died and if I am the cause," Vader choked out, his pain seeping through his words. "I must see her for myself."

"She's dead," Sidious said flatly.

"If her tomb is all that remains of her, then so be it. I am leaving for Naboo today. I must find the answers to my questions… I cannot function without knowing what happened to her," he finished. Sidious was displeased with this, but knew the importance of his apprentice coming to terms with Padme's death. It was true, he had been of no use since Order 66 due to his grief, and in the long term Sidious expected him to return a much more productive apprentice for his plans.

"So be it. May you find what you are looking for," Sidious murmured.

"Thank you, master," Vader rasped. He turned towards the main hangar where his ship awaited, and with it an endless sea of unanswered questions, and unexpected events awaiting.

xxx

The months after Padme separated from the twins had been hard, but increasingly she had come to the painful conclusion that it was for the best. If the three of them were together and were discovered by the Empire, then all three of them could be kept prisoner or worse. The more spread out they all were, the less likely capture or death would be.

Her funeral had brought some closure to the end of her life as a senator. Oftentimes she never knew what kind of impact on the common people she had had, but the hundreds of thousands of commoners celebrating her life had brought tears to her eyes.

"Good a-things you'sa done," Jar Jar said to her. She squeezed his hand. It was eerie seeing someone who looked just like you in a casket. It was surreal watching her own funeral, and the funeral of her children. But I'm alive. They're alive. She watched until the sun went down.

Sabé hugged her tightly when Padme arrived in secret. Usually such familiarity with their queen would have been taboo, but given the circumstances the handmaidens had forgotten their professionalism.

"You're alive!" Sabé cried. The handmaidens embraced her in the tombs, an unusually happy reunion for such a somber place.

"Yes, I am… I've been worried sick about all of you," Padme breathed shakily, hugging them too. It was mutual. She relayed the events of her survival, leaving out any information on the status of the twins. She and Sabé discussed swapping places, where the handmaidens were destined to guard the tomb of their queen until the end of their days as custom on Naboo.

"Go live your life, Sabé. You do not need to waste it in these dusty halls. None of you do, and as your queen, I command it of you" Padme ordered.

"You'll guard the tomb by yourself?" Sabé asked in surprise.

"Yes. You all have so much you can do with your lives still. There's nothing to guard here," she replied. In reality there had been skeletal remains placed inside the tomb, ones obviously not belonging to her. In the event the tomb was ever raided, it would truly cement the belief that she had passed.

"My lady… I could not live a life full of pleasantries while you live in solitude here. It would not be right," she argued gently.

"Sabé, you are letting me live at all. If it weren't for you, I'd have nowhere safe to go in the galaxy. Live your life to the fullest knowing you are saving mine," Padme said. Sabé cried through her smile, saying her final goodbyes to her former queen.

Several uneventful weeks had passed. It was actually quite boring, and sometimes Padme wished she had a handmaiden or two to talk to. Her tomb was quiet and peaceful. She missed Anakin every day, and wondered if he was out there in the galaxy somewhere. She wondered about Luke and Leia. Sometimes, she wondered if living like this was even worth it. I'm made to fight, to make laws, to negotiate, to help people. But what other option was there? None, and Padme knew that.

So she guarded her own empty tomb like a phantom, waiting for the day she could see Luke and Leia and Obi-Wan again. If she had to wait her entire life, so be it, she thought.

xxx

Vader had arrived a few days after departing from his new master. The Naboo he had visited so long ago and married was a shockingly different place than he remembered. What was once a vibrant, colorful place seemed dull and barren. People no longer laughed and danced in the streets, instead filled with stormtroopers and clones. Smog filled the air from repeated strikes on its own citizens. It depressed him. Padme would be unhappy here, he thought.

"Locate her tomb," Vader barked at his men. They nodded and scurried off to various places to locate the whereabouts of her remains. Vader himself strolled through the streets towards the palace, where so many years ago they had kissed for the first time, played in the sunshine in the grass, married, made love for the first time…

He shook his head of the memories as though shaking the memories off themselves. It hurt far too much now. Vader missed her terribly. For a man who had slaughtered his own friends and even children in cold blood, a man who had seen thousands of bodies in his lifetime, the thought of seeing Padme's body sickened him. He did not know if he could bear it. I must know for certain, he reminded himself. I must find my answers.

"Lord Vader, we have located the tomb of Padme Amidala," a clone barked over the intercom. He followed by giving Vader the exact coordinates, which was not too far from the palace. He hurried, his black cape fluttering angrily behind him. When he reached the coordinates, her tomb was settled in a small mausoleum out in the forest of Naboo. Night was approaching now, the sun setting over an ornate marble building.

"Leave me," he ordered his men. They obliged, and shortly after he entered the mausoleum, nausea filling his body at what was to come.

xxx

The silence of it all was the worst part about guarding her tomb. Sometimes it drove her absolutely mad. Sometimes she would think she heard footsteps or whispers, but each time it turned out that it was simply her mind playing tricks. Sometimes she even wished she heard voices just to have some company at all. Many times Padme would talk to herself to keep herself busy. Night time was the worst of it all, when even the crickets and birds of Naboo would quiet into a deep slumber. It was lonely.

One night, Padme thought she heard voices ementating from outside the tomb. She ignored it for a short while, believing it to be another one of her mind's tricks. After the voices ceased, she thought she was right. However, what did not cease were the growing sound of footsteps. Her hair stood on end, her skin prickling with goosebumps. A panic set in her. This is not a figment of my imagination, Padme thought. Someone is here.

Padme grabbed her staff and scurried through the halls to where her makeshift body was laid to rest. She hid behind the pillars, watching curiously in the darkness as footsteps grew closer. They were so heavy that she was sure there had to be someone in the room by now, and to her shock there was: a tall figure cloaked in black stood over the tomb for several quiet seconds. Padme watched in awe as the figure rubbed his hand gently across the stone replica of her, his fingers tracing across her cheek and lips.

"Scan it," Vader rasped to a small droid accompanying him.

"Yes, my Lord." It did so, and after a few seconds of beeping the droid piped up. "Skeletal remains of a woman in her late twenties to early thirties are inside," the droid said. The black figure paused for a few moments as if contemplating something. Who is this? What do they want? Padme thought suspiciously.

"Open it," the figure demanded. At this point, Padme leapt from the darkness and slapped the robot to pieces with her staff. She turned on the much larger figure, holding her staff to his face.

"You will not rob this grave," she spat angrily, imitating Sabe's voice the best she could. The figure took a raspy, deep breath and took a few stumbling steps back. A silence passed between them, Padme growing even more angry and unnerved.

"Did you hear me?" Padme yelled.

"Padme…?" Vader breathed in shock. A chill ran up Padme's spine as the two looked at one another.