As promised at 150 reviews :) thank you all for the kind, kind reviews, especially AbnormalMind777 and LyanHaber for showing such kindness and enthusiasm for my work!
With the arrival of Luke and both toddlers set to slurping up pieces of fruit she had cut, Padme excused herself for a brief moment, nearly running back to Vader's room to pick up her search while Piett was still absent. Arriving breathlessly, her careful eyes surveyed the room swiftly.
There was one door she had not yet entered, set discreetly behind the fresher; pleased, she reached eagerly for the button to enter-
No, not the button to enter the room; the button to enter the password.
Padme clenched her jaw, the agitation rising as she glanced over to look at the chrono.
If only Vader had the arrogance without the the intelligence- she had hoped his ego might at least grant her access to what she could get in his quarters, if she was unable to leave.
"Sith," she snapped.
"Access denied," replied a cool, mechanical voice.
Padme didn't even bother to let it speak again, hastily pressing the button with every red flash and speaking every guess rapid fire.
"Sidious. Master. Torture. Power. Vader," she growled out, the name acid on her tongue.
"Access denied."
Padme sighed despondently, rubbing her eyes. She didn't know what it could be- she didn't know him any longer. Once she had known him better than she had herself, yet now . . . now all she knew were the scraps of a man long gone.
But they were all she had . . . all she knew was that that man had loved . . .
"Angel," she whispered, feeling almost afraid of saying it too loud and tainting its purity, her voice catching on the final syllable and breaking at the end like a candle sputtering out in the stifling thickness of stormy air.
The door slid open.
Aghast, Padme blinked falteringly at the darkness before her. Tentatively, she ran her hand over the entrance, and then, taking a slow step forward, the inner wall, her echoing footfalls uncertain on the tiles as if testing their palpability.
The lights flickered on at her entrance.
She choked out a laugh at the sight. He hadn't gotten any cleaner.
Datapads and papers were gathered into messy piles, as if Vader had been attempting and failing to organize, broken pieces of unidentifiable objects littering the floor evidence to his clearly periodic temper tantrums. Padme picked her way cautiously through the disarray, reaching the desk to palm through the mess: charts, lists, a huge diagram that had been folded and hastily shoved into a drawer- of a globe the size of a planet.
"Project Stardust," she read slowly, her eyebrows creasing into a frown as she traced the gray lines. She had never heard of such a thing; could this be a-
Secret project of the Empire?
Greatly intrigued, Padme fervently devoured the diagram's contents. The miniature planet was to be composed of the usual: wood, metal, matrix armor, and . . . that was unusual . . .
Kyber crystals.
A vast amount of them.
She did remember reports of the Empire taking over mining in Jedha, yet at the time most in the Alliance had assumed it was due to its desire to possess all the crystals, thus maintaining the extinction of the Jedi and ensuring no other threats to its power.
But no, that wasn't the only reason- she could see the other plain as day before her eyes . . .
They had a purpose.
A weapon. They were to be used to build a super weapon.
Padme was well aware of the power of the kyber crystal; why, Ana- her husband had been a Jedi, and a showy one at that. No, its use was not to light up a room or decorate a ceiling or even generate power. Concentrated in this armored station, it could likely . . .
Destroy a planet.
All at once she was moving with urgent haste, ransacking, tearing apart the place, searching for something, anything to gather this evidence for the Rebellion so they could be warned . . . because it would be over if this plan could not be thwarted . . .
Her hands stilled abruptly on a small, holographic picture case, pushed into the corner of a small drawer as if someone had halfheartedly attempted to hide it. Suddenly she did not care for the comlink next to it, her pulse becoming strangely loud in her eyes as her gaze fell on the unmistakable workmanship.
It was . . . from their apartment . . .
Padme's fingers trembled slightly as she reached for it, holding it delicately like it was a piece of glass that might shatter from her touch.
"What if someone finds that?" she protested, laughingly batting at the lens he pointed at her. "We'll be discovered just like that, after all this time of-"
"It's of my own unique craft," he said with a wolfish smile. "Only I can open it- and now you too, Angel."
Absently, Padme pressed at the latches and switches on the case with swift precision, knowing the combination by heart though she could not be guided this time by the warm, calloused hands over her own.
"If we're being honest, do we really need something to remember what each other look like?" She planted her arms on her hips, amused.
"Well . . . " he grinned, "Maybe not, but it's good for the memories. Better to have something than nothing."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Just drop it, Ani, and come here."
"As you say, milady," he chuckled, tossing it - now recording - onto a nearby table. Eyes dancing with playful laughter, he grabbed her around the waist, spinning her. "Dance, Angel."
She giggled, a bubble of warmth expanding in her chest. "Do I really want to? Are you going to murder my feet again with your stomping?"
The corners of his mouth turned down into a mock pout. "Come on, I'm not that bad anymore. I'll prove it." He swung her into a dip, her loose mass of chestnut curls spilling down in a waterfall of chocolate.
"Okay, fine," she teased. "I'll give you one minute to not step on me."
His eyebrows shot up in such dismay it was comical. "You have that little faith in me?" Shaking his head, he looked down at her, smiling wickedly. "Challenge accepted- game on." A shocked laugh bubbled up in her throat as his hands suddenly tightened on her small frame, lifting and whirling her through the air to set her clumsily on her feet.
Breathless, she smacked him playfully on the chest, giggling when he exaggerated a wince of pain. "You're just trying to get me to be the one stumbling!"
He chuckled, shrugging nonchalantly with a mischievous glimmer sparkling deep in the bright blue. "Maybe." The familiar calloused fingers reached for hers, her fluttering heart skipping a beat and then settling into a happy, peaceful dance as he twirled her gently now, encompassing her back into a encompassing envelope of warmth. At the feel of his heartbeat strong and steady behind her, she could not find it in her to move, even for the dance; she only tightened her grip on him, refusing to allow him to release her from his chest.
"I-I miss this," she said lamely, unable to say more.
His voice was hushed. "I know, Angel." His arms wrapped around her more firmly, his head coming down to rest lightly on her head. The light exhales of his breath tickled her hair as she relaxed into him, pulling her him securely to her.
This was peace.
She did not even realize the holographic picture case was floating before her until it was pushing itself insistently into her hands, the sweet scene playing before her causing a thick glaze to fog over her vision. Even through the blue of the holograph she could see the cerulean of his eyes, gazing softly down at her with a love so earnest and profound she was torn as to whether she wanted to continue in his embrace or turn around to meet their glow. She wanted all of him . . . but they had so little time . . .
"I want you to keep it," he said quietly. "I don't want you to ever have to hurt for me, Angel. Take it, so you won't have to miss me."
"I'll always miss you," she whispered.
Tenderly, he reached to brush a loose curl from her cheek, leaving a sweet, feather-like kiss on the side of her temple. "But I'll always be with you, Angel," he breathed. "It doesn't matter if I'm gone; you won't be apart from me, because you'll always have a piece of us with you."
She couldn't speak; she could only hold him and attempt to convey all the gratitude and affection words could not, as the moisture in her eyes was blinked away to fall like glistening dewdrops upon the ground.
Padme crumpled to the office floor, gripping the holographic picture case to her chest. She couldn't look at it any longer . . . then she would see his eyes alight with adoring love and strong arms wrapped around her and mouth curled up into a gentle smile . . .
Tears would not come, although they might have been a release. There was only dry heaves of her chest, shaking violently with a pain she could not overcome.
He had loved her . . . and she had loved him . . . and she loved him still, and it hurt . . .
Grasping desperately at the table's corner for support, she jerked herself to a staggered position, fumbling for the device that would distract her, save her from this agony.
"Obi-Wan," she gasped, relieved to see the affirmative blink of the connected receiver. "Are you there?"
A familiar voice sounded almost immediately. "Padme! Thank goodness you're all right; I'm heading for the Kwenn system as we speak!"
Padme almost fell over in relief, her quivering hands nearly letting go of the comlink.
They were saved. They would leave as soon as he arrived, and without a backwards glance.
She had her part of Anakin with her, and that would be enough.
UPDATE ON IMPORTANT NEWS:
Although I haven't quite gotten to the 50 needed to confirm permanently keeping this book up and going, my publishing agent was so impressed by a few Wattpad fans (who not only begged for the new book but were even were kind enough to spread the news with their excitement) that she decided to extend the time and move the contract signing from November to December 1st so that people could have more time to respond.
As of now I currently have 19 people who have so kindly agreed to support the original version of this book (8 here (I believe) and 11 from Wattpad), so I now need 31 more before 12/1. If you are willing to be one of these people, and either:
1. request the novel at a library
2. get it free on Amazon prime
3. spend $2-5 for an ebook/paperback copy
please do let me know now so that I can keep this book up and going for my amazing reviewers. If you didn't read before, if sales don't reach a certain quota I won't be able to retain all rights and keep publishing this. The last thing I want to do after all the kindness of my reviewers is to take this down.
