Vader was beginning to grow restless. There was only so many times he could almost fix and then unfix the rebel communicator. His restlessness was leading to frustration, which was leading to a strong desire to kill something…
But every time he looked into Padmé's big brown eyes, he immediately softened. Even though they stood for very different things, she accepted him. More than that- she wanted to be around him. No one ever willingly volunteered to spend time with the fearsome Lord Vader.
He decided to go look for her. She had woken up a few hours ago and told him she was working on "a surprise", so he had to stay away for a bit.
Vader stalked through the base, occasionally calling out her name. She responded when he reached the front door. "Out here!"
Curious as to what she was doing outside in the cold, Vader pushed the door open.
"Surprise!" Padmé exclaimed. "Do you like it?"
Padmé was standing next to three balls of snow stacked on top of one another, about the same height as herself.
"Um…" Vader began. "What is it?"
Padmé's mouth dropped in shock. "You've never made a snowman before?!"
"It doesn't really snow much where I'm from," Vader replied.
"And where is that?" Padmé asked.
Vader paused for a moment. He certainly couldn't say Tatooine, or else she would launch into a conversation about how Anakin Skywalker was from Tatooine too and start asking if they were friends or something.
"Corellia," he answered.
Padmé frowned, but said nothing in return.
She knows I'm lying.
"Maybe you can teach me how to make one," Vader suggested, eager to spend some time with her.
Her frown turned to a smile. She was clearly pleased by this idea.
Soon Padmé and Vader were playing in the snow like little children. Vader hadn't felt so carefree in a long time. He was actually laughing. Vader was unaware he was still capable of laughter.
Vader's finished snowman was significantly taller than Padmé's. "We should decorate them like ourselves," said Padmé. "Let's see what we can find inside."
Vader humored her and followed her to multiple closets so she could search for items to put on the snowmen.
"We need something blue for your eyes," she stated.
"My eyes aren't blue," Vader replied.
Padmé turned around, looking at him directly. "Yes, they are."
Vader immediately grew concerned. His eyes hadn't been blue since the Jedi purge a couple years ago. They were yellow, just as they should be for a Sith.
What is happening to me?
Vader watched as Padmé decorated the snowmen. Hers had two wooden arms, but his only had one. "Where's my other arm?" he asked.
Padmé picked up a strip of metal and stuck it into the right torso of Vader's snowman.
My mechanical limb.
At first, Vader was offended. Even a little angry. But then she stepped aside and he noticed something- the snowmen were holding hands. The wooden hand of snow Padmé was holding the metal hand of snow Vader.
Real Padmé proceeded to Vader's side and grabbed hold of the glove that covered his mechanical hand. She squeezed tightly.
Vader wasn't sure what to do. He was able to infer that Padmé didn't care that he was only half a man. It didn't scare her. Why?
Vader pulled his hand away from Padmé's and said, "We should go inside. It's getting dark."
Padmé couldn't help but feel disappointed when he pulled away from her, but knew that she would freeze if they stayed outside for much longer.
She sat down beside a heater, warming her body and munching on more dried food. Her canteen was running low on water, which was incredibly concerning considering their situation.
"How is the communicator coming?" Padmé asked.
Vader just grunted.
"We're almost out of food and water from the pod," she pointed out. "We're not going to survive much longer if you can't get that thing up and running."
"Padmé, you're forgetting something," said Vader. "We're on an ice planet."
"Yeah, and that's why it's even more important to…" Padmé began, but stopped, finally realizing her own stupidity. "Ice is water. Got it."
Vader smirked.
"Well, we still need food," she continued.
"I'll figure something out," Vader replied.
"What about a shower?" Padmé asked. "I feel gross and smell terrible."
"You smell fine," Vader responded. "If it's that important to you, then I'll melt some ice tomorrow and you can dump it on yourself."
Vader's serious lack of planning skills bothered Padmé. He was always so sure of himself, yet he never took time to come up with a solid plan.
Good to know that the second most powerful man in the galaxy just likes to take things minute by minute.
Padmé suddenly remembered something she had been meaning to ask about and figured he was in a good enough mood at the moment.
"Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Sure," Vader responded.
"Well, when you were passed out and had a fever," Padmé began, "you were mumbling something about Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Vader immediately snapped to attention.
"What's your question, Senator?" he said coldly.
Back to "Senator". This can't be good.
"Well, I know he's a Jedi, so I was just wondering how you knew him," said Padmé, beginning to wish she hadn't started the conversation in the first place.
"It doesn't matter," Vader answered. "Whether or not he's alive, Kenobi has been dead to me for years and I don't want to hear his name again."
Padmé nodded, dropping the subject. "Well, I'm just going to go to bed."
She made her way back to the bed she had slept in the night before and tried to make herself comfortable, but gave up after about an hour. She knew what was troubling her, but also knew it was a huge risk to try to fix it.
She decided to take the risk.
Padmé returned to the room where she had been with Vader earlier. He was sitting and staring at a wall, deep in thought. She coughed to alert him of her presence.
"I can't sleep," she said.
"And?" Vader replied.
"And…" She took a deep breath. "I was wondering if maybe you would come stay with me for a bit. Like you have for the past couple nights."
The surprise was evident on Vader's face, but there was no obvious malice. He took quite a while to respond after pondering her request.
"Sure," he said, getting up to follow her.
Padmé lay back on the uncomfortable mattress, holding her hand out to Vader. She could tell he was hesitant to accept it, but did so anyway.
As soon as he was beside her, he winced.
"Does your wampa cut still hurt?" Padmé asked. "You shouldn't put pressure on it."
"It's fine," Vader said, shifting himself a bit until he was in a position where he could relax. Padmé continued holding his hand and he wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her closer to him.
What am I doing?
Padmé was finally trying to make sense of this moment and the other moments they had shared. At first she thought it was just because they were the only two people on a deserted planet and something like this was bound to happen, but now she was beginning to see things differently.
And it scared her.
Some small part of Padmé was whispering to her that even if there were other men on Hoth, or if they were somewhere that was actually inhabited, she would still pick Vader. She was unmistakably drawn to this man.
The man who slaughtered the Jedi, tortured my friend, and imprisoned me for weeks.
A couple small tears began to roll down her pale cheeks.
"What's wrong?" Vader asked.
His tone was one of care and concern, but was it genuine? Padmé did not know if a Sith Lord was even capable of caring. Perhaps this was all an act to break down her walls and gain more information about the rebels. And until now, she didn't realize how truly hurt she would be if that were true.
"Nothing," she replied.
Vader rolled her over to face him and she found herself once again weakened by the intensity of his blue eyes. They reminded her of the lake on Naboo. She felt at home with him. With this horrible man that she barely knew.
"Tell me what's wrong," Vader insisted.
Padmé couldn't hold back her feelings any longer. Everything spilled out at once. "I don't know what to think anymore," she said. "I thought I had my life all planned out. I hate the Empire and I hated you more for everything you've done. I wasn't expecting the way you've treated me these past few weeks. There's more to you than everyone sees, but I just need to know if it's real. I need to know if you really care about me."
Vader was clearly confused by her confession. "Do you still hate me?" he asked.
"No," Padmé sniffled. "But I should."
She rolled over again, breaking their gaze. "I think…" she started. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
Padmé waited for a response from Vader, but none came. She waited for him to get up, to walk away and stop speaking to her. But he didn't. Instead he pulled her close again and she drifted to sleep.
One of the moments you've been waiting for! I think the next big question is…will Vader finally admit how he feels about her? Thanks for all your recent reviews and I'm looking forward to what you have to say about this chapter!
