"Padmé Naberrie Amidala, will you marry me?"
Vader couldn't believe those words had slipped out. Marriage? Certainly he didn't care for Padmé enough to devote his entire life to her! Which is why he was mildly relieved when she shouted in response…
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?!"
Vader attempted to tune out the remainder of her meltdown, but picked up on key words such as "lunatic" and "madman".
"So, I take it, that's a no?" he responded when Padmé's rant had concluded.
"No!" she replied. "I mean, yes! No!"
"Is that a yes or a no?" Vader asked, squeezing her hand while she made a valiant effort to pull it away.
"It's a no!" Padmé answered.
Vader relented and released his grasp. He watched as she fiddled with knobs and dials, pots and pans, immersing herself in cooking to avoid him.
"I believe I am, at least, owed an explanation," Vader remarked.
Padmé did not face him, but continued stirring the noodles as she responded.
"Because, Lord Vader, marriage, by definition, is the union of two souls who love each other unconditionally. You don't love me, so I can't marry you."
"It's not that I don't love you, Padmé," Vader rebuked. "It's that I can't…"
"Yes, you can't love me because you're a Sith and Sith Lords don't feel love and fuel their Force powers on hatred," Padmé interrupted. "I've heard this before."
Vader rose to join her at the stove, noticing her tense at his approach.
"But you're changing me, Padmé," he insisted, tilting her chin up to face him. "And I think you've seen that. You've seen the conflict within me and through all of that, the only thing that hasn't changed are my feelings for you. I am darkness and you are light, yet you do not burn me. You help me bring balance to the Force."
Vader tried helplessly to read her expression. Grief? Perhaps, denial? A bit of anger? It wasn't exactly the response he had been hoping for.
"I will marry you in a heartbeat the day you know who you are," Padmé finally replied. "In order for two halves to be a whole, each half must be whole on its own."
Vader dropped his hand.
"And if my decision is Vader?" he asked.
"Then I will be Padmé Naberrie Amidala Vader," she answered.
"You are aware of the consequences that come with that?" Vader prompted. "Like participating as a high-ranking official in a system of government that you firmly oppose."
"And how exactly are you planning on becoming such a high-ranking official again?" Padmé inquired, draining the water from the pot. "Last I heard, most of the galaxy thinks you're dead and the Emperor is still alive."
Vader knew he could not reveal anything to her that would suggest he was still pursuing his plan. He chose his words carefully.
"Well, he won't be alive forever," Vader responded. "And that makes me heir to the Empire by default."
"You seriously think the people will accept your miraculous reemergence from the dead?" Padmé questioned. "And you wouldn't even consider instituting a new system of government if that were to happen?"
Vader gritted his teeth as Padmé portioned the noodles.
"The Republic does not work, Padmé," Vader responded. "My hatred for the Emperor is overpowering, but democracy is also flawed."
"I agree that every system has its flaws," Padmé continued, handing a bowl of noodles to him. "But the Empire is a reign of terror. You refer to the rebels and resistance movements as the "terrorists", yet your people kill more creatures in a day than every Republic supporter has in their lifetimes combined. Do you call that peace?"
"I don't call it peace," Vader replied, taking a hearty bite of the plain meal, which was light years better than anything he'd eaten in the past few weeks. "I call it order."
Padmé took a seat at the mahogany kitchen table and gestured for Vader to join her. He found it comical that after all this time on the run living in desolate places, she still felt the need to eat her meals at a table.
"Well, perhaps there can be some sort of in-between system that maintains both peace and order," Padmé suggested. "A…balance."
Vader smirked as she threw his own words back at him.
"Yes, a balance," he remarked, finishing the remainder of his helping in under a minute before taking a seat beside her.
Padmé finished chewing and placed her utensil beside the half-finished bowl.
"Then yes," she said, her eyes raising to meet his. "If you are Vader, I will still marry you."
"So…that's a yes, then?" Vader asked again, his heart racing as fast as if he were engaged in a major battle.
"Yes," Padmé confirmed, taking his hands in hers. "When the day comes, I will be Padmé Naberrie Amidala Heartkiller Skywalker Vader or whatever you decide, because I love you and we can make this work."
Vader almost neglected to consider her lean stature as he embraced her, reeling her in for a violent kiss. He couldn't help but feel a searing pain in his gut and chest, as if his body was rejecting the emotions he knew he was feeling. His burn scars tingled and his metal fingers latched together.
Oh Padmé, what are you doing to me?
Padmé slowly blinked her eyes open to view a patch of sunlight entering through the draperies. She oriented herself, realizing that she was in her childhood vacation bedroom…with Vader sleeping soundly beside her. She placed her head in her hands, processing the events of the previous evening.
Did I really agree to marry him?
She washed and dressed herself in traditional Naboo garb from her closet, which thankfully had a wide selection of clothing available for all occasions. One perk of being a child queen was getting spoiled with a massive wardrobe that overflowed from her parents' house.
When she returned to the bedroom, Vader was awake and clothed, positioned on the side of the bed. He gestured for her to come to him and she hesitantly obeyed.
"Are you going to try to seduce me again?" Padmé asked as he pulled her onto his lap. "Because we actually do need to see my parents today."
"If you insist," Vader replied, "but I do have a surprise for you."
The blue and white droid rolled into the bedroom, clean as new and chirping in delight. Padmé bolted to it.
"When did you have time to do this?" she exclaimed.
"You don't seriously think I sleep all night?" Vader responded, joining her and crouching to examine the droid. "He says his name is R2D2, but I still need to make some repairs on the memory card to figure out his story."
R2D2…the name sounded so familiar to Padmé.
And just like that, it clicked.
Padmé gasped and jumped back. This was the droid from Tatooine, the first time she met Anakin. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had brought it along, and it accompanied Obi-Wan from time-to-time in his younger years. She wondered how it had ended up as a pile of scraps on Widow…
"What's wrong?" Vader asked, breaking her trance.
"Nothing," Padmé answered shaking her head. "Just…I know this droid."
"Strange, it looks oddly familiar to me, as well," Vader chimed in, the good half of his forehead wrinkling in puzzlement. "Do you know whereabouts you have met him before?"
Padmé debated reminding him of the day they met, but she doubted he would remember that. He had repressed all his childhood memories to become this dark monster. And besides, any reference to Obi-Wan would likely not be ideal for his mental state at the moment.
"I'm not sure," she replied, "but you'll figure it out."
She didn't know if Vader bought her lie, but if he hadn't, he decided not to question it.
"Well, let's go, then," he prompted. "Time to introduce your parents to your fiancée, the evil killing machine that was solely responsible for the destruction of the beloved system of government on their lovely planet."
Padmé was suddenly very nervous. Very, incredibly, supremely nervous.
Obi-Wan once again found himself standing in the middle of the desert, this time transmitting a holo communication to Master Yoda after finding out that Vader had, yet again, kidnapped an all-too-willing Padmé.
"Good to hear from you, it is," Yoda began. "A long time, it has been."
"Indeed, it has," Obi-Wan agreed. "But I fear that my message to you is not good tidings. It is time, Master Yoda. And I need your help."
Obi-Wan filled in Master Yoda on every detail of his journey and the Anakin/Vader debacle. He was surprised at the calmness which Yoda portrayed at the receipt of the information. Then, came Yoda's response.
"Find Skywalker, we must. Save him from the Dark Side, we can. Shown this to me, the Force has. Stop him from facing the Emperor, we must."
The Emperor spat off the side of his throne in disgust and frustration. He had assembled his top admirals and lieutenants in the throne room, or, at least, what was left of them after he had slaughtered the ones who failed him.
"I thought he would come to us," Sidious sneered, mostly to himself.
It pained him that he had waited so long for Vader, only for Vader to never appear. Coward.
"We must find him," the Emperor continued. "Assemble your fleets. Search every corner of the galaxy. Every planet, every city, every island, every desolate space of uncharted land. I want Vader found and brought to me, alive. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my lord!" the soldiers chimed in unison, standing to attention.
Sidious chuckled at how all of them shook in their boots in utter fear of his power.
"Go!" he shouted. "Get out!"
The men hurried from the room, hoping they could keep their lives for another day or two. Somehow, somewhere, the Emperor would find Vader. And he would make him suffer for his betrayal.
And then he would kill him. Slowly and painfully. With nothing but his bare hands and the raw power of the Dark Side.
I'm back…and finally a college graduate! That means I have no more homework ever and ample spare time to spend on this site! (Yay!) This was a bit of a shorter chapter, but you deserve an update as loyal followers that have stuck with me and this story for the past two years. Please continue to leave reviews and let me know what you all thought of TLJ! I'm a little obsessed with it and I think I'm starting to develop a Reylo ship… -Lyanna
