Silently, Padme approached the box that Palpatine was seated in, sliding past the red robed sentry who silently stood guard at the doorway.

To the left of the Chancellor was seated a female Umbaran and behind him sat Mas Amedda, the Senate's Vice Chair. Padme stopped at Palpatine's side. At the front was a stage performance, involving hovering globes of water, large enough to house the alien performers. Padme thought they were quite graceful, as they swam in and out of these different globes, with a choreographed efficiency and beauty.

"You wished to see me, Chancellor?"

Palpatine smiled warmly. "Yes, Padme, come closer. I have good news," Palpatine beckoned. Padme obliged, kneeling on one knee next to her father-figure.

"Our clone intelligence units have discovered the location of General Grievous," he said softly. "He is hiding in the Utapau system."

Padme acknowledged this with a nod. "We can finally put a stop to their military arm and end this war," she agreed, turning to him. Palpatine nodded slowly, as if thinking of something. Padme's eyes returned to the performers.

"You know, I would question the Jedi Council's collective wisdom if they didn't select you for this assignment."

Padme quickly looked back at Palpatine, mild confusion on her face. Palpatine mildly shrugged. "You're the best choice," he explained. "By far."

"It would need to be approved by the Council," Padme replied, already sure that they wouldn't like it just because Palpatine requested it. The thought of it sent waves of annoyance through her which she forced herself to ignore.

"Hm," Palpatine only nodded, as if he already knew this. His face suddenly brightened. "Sit down," he insisted. He turned his head to his associates' general direction.

"Leave us."Without a word, the other politicians left the box, leaving only Padme, Palpatine, and the silent guard at the doorway. Padme stepped past Palpatine to sit down next to him.

"Padme, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council," Palpatine ventured, watching the performance. "If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will."

Padme looked straight ahead, feelings of guilt prickling away at her thoughts. "A Jedi plot?" She asked diplomatically, avoiding eye contact.

"You must sense what I've come to suspect," Palpatine said, his shoulders sagging as he leaned back a bit in his seat.

Padme could see that he was tired. It was easy to forget that he was a simple man trying to govern. She looked back at the performance, thinking that he just had too many responsibilities to worry about.

"The Jedi Council want control of the Republic," Palpatine said, a surety in his voice. He sighed. "They're planning to betray me."

Padme frowned at the claim, unsure if she could believe it. But they already asked her to violate the Jedi Code...She hesitated to speak, and her throat was dry.

"Surely they wouldn't-"

"Padme," Palpatine said, his voice could almost sound as if he were admonishing her. "Search your feelings," he urged. "You know. Don't you?"

Padme's argument died in her throat. "I..." She glanced at him before looking back at the performance again. "They've expressed their distrust of you," she conceded, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the topic.

"Or the Senate, or the Republic," Palpatine added, shaking his head. "Or democracy, for that matter..."

Padme swallowed, unsure if she should say what she was feeling. She hadn't even told Anakin yet, but Palpatine deserved to know.

"I have to admit, my trust in them has been shaken," she said quietly, watching Palpatine for his reaction. His expression was only conveyed sympathy as he looked at her.

"Why?" Palpatine replied. Padme looked down, unable to answer. Palpatine nodded slowly, as if this confirmed some fear he had. "They asked you to do something that made you feel dishonest, didn't they?"

Padme couldn't speak, and didn't know what to say. Palpatine could see right through her, and she felt worse knowing that she had lied to him.

"They asked you to spy on me, didn't they?"

The question was asked gently, and she knew there should be accusation in his voice, but it wasn't there. It made the guilt she felt all the more unbearable. She slowly sat up, wishing she could just run out of the room.

"...I don't know what to say," she finally said after a pregnant pause.

"Remember back to your early teachings," Palpatine reminded. "All who gain power, are afraid to lose it," he recited. "Even the Jedi." He turned his head back to the play.

"The Jedi use their power for Good," she asserted, finding the need to defend the Order.

"Good is point of view," Palpatine suggested, still watching the actors. "The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way," he said. Padme looked at him at the mention of the Sith. "Including their quest for greater power."

"The Sith rely on passion for their strength, and only think of themselves," Padme said. Palpatine regarded her for a moment.

"And the Jedi don't?"

Padme was reminded of the Council's decision to spy on the Chancellor. "The Jedi are...selfless, they only care about others," she countered, not feeling as confident as before in her statement. She looked forward.

Silence followed, and the both of them watched the performers as they glided through the water currents. Slowly, a small smile graced Palpatine's features.

"You ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis, the Wise?"

Padme turned to Palpatine, who was still looking forward. "No," she admitted.

"I thought not," Palpatine replied, the smile still on his face. "It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith Legend."

The silence resumed for a moment and then Palpatine continued.

"Darth Plagueis, was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful, and so wise, he could use the Force to," he slowed his speech as he turned to face Padme, who watched him curiously. "Create life." Palpatine's smile almost seemed wistful as he looked at her, before turning away.

"He had such a knowledge of the Dark Side, he could even keep the ones he cared about, from dying." Padme looked at Palpatine again, to see that he was studying her face again.

Padme's brows lowered as she thought about what Palpatine said. It made the memories of her recent dreams come to the the surface of her mind. "He could actually save people from death?"

Palpatine didn't reply immediately, but the small smile remained, and he turned away again. "The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be...unnatural."

"Well, what happened to him?" Padme asked impatiently, her interest piqued. Palpatine's smile seemed to deepen as if he were remembering something from his own past.

"He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power," he replied turning to her again. "Which eventually, of course, he did." His smile retreated to something more mild. "Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep."

Palpatine was looking in the direction of the play, but to Padme, it felt as if he wasn't really looking at it now.

"Ironic. He could save others from death. But not himself," Palpatine said, the smile still there. At the back of Padme's mind, it might have even been a bit unsettling. But something more important was at the forefront.

"Is it possible to learn this power?" Padme asked, turning once again to face him.

Slowly, Palpatine reciprocated her stare.

"Not from a Jedi."


When Anakin arrived back to his -or rather his other self's- Apartment, he tossed his jacket onto the floor once the door closed. He examined the discarded attire, wondering what exactly his clothing sense was here. In his own world, he almost always wore his signature Jedi robes that contained tones of black, dark browns, and even hints of red.

Here, he wore...civilian clothing. And it was probably one of the stranger aspects of this experience. He sighed, stepping away from the discarded jacket and studying the suite. Belatedly, he realized that the back of Padme's head could be seen at the living room sofa, and that she hadn't reacted to his entrance. Observing for a moment, he closed in to sit next to her.

Padme looked exhausted, and Anakin noticed now that she had been leaning back onto the couch.

"Hey," Anakin greeted, studying her face. She turned to look at him and smiled, but it disappeared as quickly as it formed, as if it were for his benefit. Anakin could easily tell that something was bothering her and she wouldn't tell him what it was.

Was this what Anakin was constantly doing to Padme? Making her worry, when he refused to talk about what was going on after he returned home? He thought he was keeping her from worrying needlessly, but now, he realized the truth as he looked at her miserable expression, because he felt it right now.

He felt worse not knowing what was going on. So, Anakin took a breath, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Something's bothering you," Anakin said more so than asked. Padme glanced at him but did not immediately reply.

"It's just the war," she answered vaguely, not looking him in the eye.

The response sounded like something he would expect to hear. But that was the problem. They both knew the war has been going for years now. Why would she suddenly look so emotionally beaten down after talking to the Chancellor. Anakin looked down, steeling himself for his next words.

"Look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but it worries me more when I see that you're hurting and I don't know what caused it," even as Anakin said all of this, he wanted to slap himself. If anything, Padme should be the one scolding him about hiding his feelings.

Padme's shoulders sagged, and she leaned sideways to rest her head on Anakin's chest. "I know, I know," she said tiredly, folding her arms. She paused for a moment before looking at him from her prone position. "I talked to the Chancellor like I told you before."

"Okay," Anakin replied, knowing Padme had more to say.

"He told me a legend about a...person who could keep those he loved from dying."

Anakin blinked, digesting this information. Did that mean the Palpatine of his reality knew of this legend as well? Besides him and Padme having switched lives, everything seemed to have remained the same.

"What kind of legend..?" Anakin gently insisted, masking his interest.

"He didn't say," Padme dismissed. "I didn't get the chance to press him for details."

Anakin thought that was an odd response, but didn't dwell on it. Instead, he rested his hand- his right, flesh hand, which he was still getting used to- on top of her hair, lightly playing with the curls like he would back home. Padme nestled deeper into his light hold like he always remembered, even though her Jedi robes reminded him of where he was.

Anakin would volunteer some information, deciding to follow a give-and-take sort of discussion. Padme wouldn't open up unless he did the same, right?

Earlier today, Bail had invited him to a closed door meeting. Not wanting to cause problems for himself in the future, he decided to attend. He and Bail hadtalked, along with several other senators that Anakin recognized as a close circle of friends of Padme's, including Mon Mothma and Garm Bel Iblis. Apparently, the document that they were all working on had been in the making for several months. This meant that in his own reality, when he and Obi-Wan had rescued the Chancellor from the Invisible Hand, this Petition of 2,000 as it was called, was already drafted.

There was so much that Padme hadn't told him, he realized. When he'd read the document's contents, they clearly outlined the grievances they had, one of them being the Sector Governance Decree. It effectively made Senators powerless, but that didn't bother him.

It was the fact that back home, Padme had less and less powers to effect change over the course of this war. How had he not noticed?

"Some associates and I, we've been talking," he said, winging it a bit, since he didn't know everything about what the previous meetings were about. "We're drafting a petition for the Chancellor to relinquish his emergency powers."

Padme stiffened under him, and Anakin hesitantly pulled his hand back.

"But, the Chancellor has been doing all he's can to end the war," she argued, sitting up.

Honestly, Anakin wanted to agree, but the points outlined in that document...Some of the emergency powers that Palpatine had been accumulating had nothing to do with ending the war. He wasn't an expert on legislation, but replacing elected leadership with personal choices seemed like a red flag to him. It reminded him of his youth on Tatooine. He had no choice in who governed them there as well...

"People are losing their freedoms, Padme...believe me, I can relate..." Anakin whispered the last part, but immediately regretted it.

Was he even from Tatooine in this reality? Was Padme the freed slave here, and he'd just committed a social faux pas?

A strange kind of relief flooded him though, when Padme appeared to cringe, looking guilty.

"Ani, I," Padme hesitated, looking away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

From her reaction, Anakin could safely assume that he did grow up on Tatooine. But how did he end up a Senator? He was sure a dust ball all the way in the Outer Rim wasn't represented in the Galactic Senate.

He pulled Padme into a hug. "No, i'm sorry, I didn't mean to guilt trip you or anything." He pulled away, contemplating. "Let's just say a lot of these emergency powers have nothing to do with ending a war and more with building a dictatorship," Anakin said heavily, almost not believing what he was saying about the good Chancellor. But, he rationalized, this wasn't the Palpatine he knew. It could just be something native to this timeline. He knew it was a flimsy excuse, but he found himself accepting it.

Padme looked uncertain as she held her gloved prosthetic hand, as if she was cradling it. The sight of it still unnerved him.

"A dictatorship," Padme repeated unbelievingly. She shook her head. "That doesn't make any sense, the Chancellor's not that kind of man."

Anakin wanted to suggest that maybe he was, but thought better of it. If he was still the Jedi and Padme was the Senator, he'd probably be saying exactly what she just said.

"Maybe so," he carefully replied. "But the Republic is run by more than just one person."

Kriff, he sounded just like Obi-Wan, he realized. He felt he better understood his Master's misgivings, even if he didn't fully accept it.

"Maybe," Padme conceded, though not fully agreeing with him. "I'll have to think on this," she decided.

"Padme, if possible, can we keep this between us?" Anakin asked. At Padme's confused expression, he squeezed her shoulder. "Don't tell Palpatine about any of this. Please."

Padme frowned in thought, but relented at Anakin's earnest expression. He was serious, and Padme would respect that.

"Fine, it's between us."


A/N: This chapter was dialogue heavy and contained the Obligatory "Legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise", but the next chapter may contain some actual fighting. I want to explore their reversed dynamic in that context as well.