Padmé glanced back as Vader exited the cockpit and headed toward the back of the ship after a bumpy landing on the wasteland of Widow.
"What are you doing?" she asked, unstrapping herself from the passenger's seat.
Vader returned with a full space suit, complete with a helmet and oxygen tank. It was a crude shade of reddish-orange, similar to the color of the atmosphere of this wretched place.
"I tested the air quality on our way to the surface and it is definitely not breathable," Vader responded. "I don't know what your people are dumping here, but this is the most polluted planet I've ever set foot on. I'll leave the ship running for you so you'll have some clean air circulating."
"Hold up!" Padmé exclaimed, rising from her seat. "I'm coming with you."
She detected a sigh from Vader, or perhaps a growl of discontent.
"I work better alone," he stated, stepping into the suit. "Besides, the smell is likely to be profusely terrible even through the helmet, and I know you have a tendency for nausea."
"I don't care," Padmé argued, proceeding to the back of the ship to search for a suit of her own. She wasn't about to let him out of her sight for one minute, even if that meant a trek over piles of rotting trash. It couldn't be worse than their deadly journey through the snow on Hoth. She found herself smiling as she thought of the time they had spent together there. It had been so peaceful, for the most part, without interference from the Empire or the Rebellion. Who would've thought she'd be yearning to be back on a frozen world eating ice fish every day?
Stepping out the door and activating her tank, Padmé almost barfed. She thought the suit would have masked the scent better than it did. And if the smell wasn't already horrific, the sight of being surrounded on all sides with endless piles of garbage certainly was. She looked down and kicked a twelve-legged brown bug that had been trying to crawl on her boot. It scurried away.
Padmé hurried, hopping over rotting food scraps and wooden boards, to catch up with Vader. She paused upon noticing a pile of familiar bricks.
The Theed Royal Palace.
She reached out and glazed her glove over one of them, remembering the attack by the Empire. She had not been there to witness it, but she had viewed the aftermath. The palace was in ruins. It had since been rebuilt, but here laid the remains of a Republic that once was. Of her home as a child queen.
Ahead, Padmé noticed Vader examining one of the many abandoned and clearly not functional speeders in the junkyard. She collected some pieces of scrap metal that might be useful for him and made her way over.
"Is this thing even going to run?" she asked, skeptical.
"Not for very long," Vader replied, tinkering with the ancient engine, "but it will be enough to get us from here to Naboo in one piece."
She set the scrap metal down beside him and he grunted, which she took as his way of expressing gratitude.
"Anything I can do to help?" Padmé inquired.
"No," he answered bluntly.
Padmé, though slightly annoyed, allowed him the space he needed to work and explored the waste. She stumbled upon yet another familiar piece of something from her past, but she couldn't quite place it. It was the bottom half of a blue and white droid, rusty with one of its legs missing. The wires on top were exposed and tangled.
Who was this droid?
She made it her mission for the next several hours to search for the missing parts of the droid, eventually acquiring everything she needed within the vicinity of where she had found the bottom half. She reattached the leg herself, but the arms and top half she would need Vader's assistance with.
Padmé jumped as the man himself appeared.
"Do you like him?" Vader asked.
"Yes," Padmé replied, hesitant to reveal her possible connection to the droid to Vader.
"Well, let's see what we can do, shall we?" Vader replied, picking up the droid with an impressive amount of strength. Padmé followed him to the junk speeder…which was running.
"I can't believe you actually did it…" she noted, running her hand along the side. "You continue to amaze me, Ana- uh, Vader."
Vader appeared to ignore her slip-up as he strapped the droid to the top of the vehicle and helped her step aboard. As soon as the hatch was sealed, they removed their suits. Padmé coughed, her hand moving to block her nose of the stench.
"I warned you not to go out there," said Vader, rising off the ground slowly and flying in slow circles to test the ship's capability before taking it into space.
"I'm fine," Padmé countered. "I just need to wash off before we see my parents. Preferably sometime soon."
That appeared to be Vader's cue that Padmé trusted the quality of the speeder, as he rose into the atmosphere and turned the gears to full power. It was certainly not very fast, but as Vader had said, it would get them as far as Naboo.
"Land next to that lake," Padmé instructed as they approached the planet's surface just two hours later. "It's far enough away from the city that no one will notice us, and I think you need a quick rinse, as well."
Not like anyone would notice us if we landed on top of the damn palace.
Vader was incredibly disappointed in the Imperial security, or lack thereof, as they approached and entered the planet. Not a single communication came through asking them to identify themselves. This would certainly be something to take care of when he regained control of the Empire.
"There's a house there," Vader pointed out as they got closer to the lake. "Probably not the most ideal spot to land, Padmé."
"My family owns that house," she replied. "It's called Varykino."
"I thought you wanted to clean up first before meeting your family," said Vader.
"Oh, no one lives there," Padmé explained. "We just own it."
Of course she does.
The house itself emitted a strong sense of the Light Side, as if the whole thing was filled with and surrounded by happy and jolly memories. It irritated Vader, who was still reluctant to land. She was right, though- the farther they were from civilization, the better off they would be until they could adequately clean themselves up and Vader could find something to hide his scars.
He brought the ship to a halt several yards from the lake and watched as Padmé eagerly jumped from the ship and breathed in the air of her home. He wondered how long it had been since she had been able to do so, and a small part of him felt guilty that she was forced into hiding so many years ago because of him.
Vader followed Padmé to the water's edge, where she had begun taking off her shoes and letting the curls of her long hair fall loose down her back.
Force, she is beautiful.
Padmé turned her head around with a playful smile.
"Don't look," she said, beginning to strip herself of the bland and tattered Tatooine garb.
"No guarantees," Vader responded. She giggled.
Vader's eyes perused her perfect, naked body as she dived into the water. She knew he lusted for her. She was teasing him, and Vader did not like being teased.
"Coming?" Padmé shouted, treading water.
Vader gritted his teeth and reached out to the Force to will away the discomfort he felt at allowing himself to be so exposed in broad daylight. He removed his boots and socks, feeling the disgusting, coarse sand between his toes, followed by his shirt and lastly, his pants. He thought he saw Padmé's eyes widen after he performed this last step, which gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.
Vader was glad that Padmé had waited for him in a spot that was shallow enough for him to stand, as he was not an excellent swimmer. He had never needed to do so, and therefore did not feel the need to waste his time learning.
Vader pulled her close to him and held her up, as she was not tall enough to touch the bottom. She wrapped her legs around him and leaned her head onto his chest.
"Don't leave me again," she whispered.
Vader winced, knowing that he would have to do so in just a few short days, perhaps even tomorrow, and decided to hold off on mentioning this detail to her until absolutely necessary.
Vader traced his flesh hand along the outline of Padmé's cheeks and down the side of her body. She closed her eyes and moaned gently.
Yes, this was most definitely what he wanted.
Unable to contain his lust any longer, he tilted her chin upward and crashed his lips into hers, a gesture which she eagerly returned. He felt her fingernails gently scratch up and down his back and he trailed his kisses down her neck.
Vader brought his eyes back up to meet hers for a moment, waiting for her permission.
"Yes," she whispered softly with a smile.
She gasped as he made his next move and Vader knew he had made the right decision to have this one last night.
The lovers let the sun evaporate the water from their bodies as they climbed a seemingly endless amount of stairs to the lakeside entrance of the Varykino mansion. Padmé's pleasure from their encounter in the lake faded as soon as she realized that she did not have a key in her possession. She glanced up at Vader, who flawlessly used the Force to unlock the massive set of doors and push it inward. She hadn't seen him use the Force in a while, and had to admit that she missed it.
"There should be some clothes scattered in the closets around here," Padmé stated. "I'll try to find something that will be large enough for you, but my father and my brother-in-law aren't quite as tall."
She gasped in shock as Vader reeled her back into him.
"No clothes yet," he whispered, kissing her forehead.
"We have to go see my parents," Padmé protested, "and that requires clothes."
"There's no rush on that," Vader countered. "Let's stay here, just me and you. At least for the night."
Padmé had to admit that his offer was tempting, and grew frustrated at the amount of power he had over her body and her mind.
"Alright," she found herself saying, "but just one night. Let me at least call my parents and let them know we'll be there tomorrow."
Vader nodded and released her, and she headed up more stairs to the bedrooms to search for suitable garb. Suddenly, her stomach growled, and she realized that they hadn't eaten at all that day due to the lack of fresh food on Widow. She quickly changed into an old turquoise dress from her teenage years and brought the largest pants and shirt from her brother-in-law's closet that she could find downstairs for Vader, who had retrieved the broken droid from the speeder and was now tinkering with it in a spare room.
"I thought we agreed no clothes," he said with an edge of disappointment.
"We need to eat something," Padmé replied, tossing the outfit to him. "Let me see if there's anything left in the cabinets. I'm not sure how long it's been since my family was here."
As Padmé searched through the stock of nonperishables and decided on traditional Naboo noodles, she placed a brief call to update her parents, careful not to mention that they were already on the planet. When the call was complete, she turned to notice Vader lurking behind her again.
"Stop doing that," she commanded, startled, as she gathered her cooking supplies. It had been a terribly long time since she had cooked anything, and hoped she still possessed enough skills to make something edible.
"I was thinking it might not be such a good idea for me to come along on this visit to your parents' place," he noted. "If they figure out who I am, that won't be good for anyone."
"They won't," Padmé responded. "And if they do, they'll just have to respect that there's a different side to you than the one everyone else sees and that I truly, deeply love you."
She gulped as Vader did not return her sentiment.
"Padmé, I…" he began before she interrupted him.
"Are we really back to this again?" Padmé asked, trying to contain her emotions.
"You know how I feel about you," Vader answered. "I just can't love you. It's not in my nature. At least, the type of love that you're looking for."
"Yes, you can!" Padmé exclaimed, a tear trailing down her cheek. "I've seen it! You're a good person."
"No, I'm not!" Vader shouted. Padmé could see glimmers of yellow rising in his eyes and began to grow frightened. "I am not a good person and I can at least accept now that you love me. I can lust for you and tell you honestly that you are everything I have ever wanted and you don't know how much pain that causes me! You are a weakness and I can't allow that to progress any farther. I physically cannot love you."
Padmé turned away, sniffling.
"I don't believe you," she mumbled. Had she really just given this person her body and her heart, only to have it shattered yet again?
"You have to," Vader replied. "You need to believe me because it's the truth."
"Prove it!" Padmé screamed, whirling around to face him again.
"Fine!" Vader yelled back. "Marry me!"
Padmé dropped her kitchen knife and stared, gaping, at the figure of rage that made its way closer to her. The glowing yellow eyes and the mechanical hand that was reaching out to grab her shoulder. Surely she hadn't heard this man correctly?
Vader's other hand, the flesh one, took hold of one of her own, but this didn't ease the trembling.
"Padmé Naberrie Amidala," he whispered in a tone that sent chills down her spine. "Will you marry me?"
Hi, friends! Sorry it's been so long again and progression on this story is slow, but thanks for sticking with it. It's weird to think I started this my sophomore year of college…feels like it was just yesterday! Let me know in the reviews if you're still enjoying the Vadmé fluff. -Lyanna
