Chapter 22: The Argument

Air completely left Padmé. She sat frozen. Unmoving. As if a statue. Then it felt like she was breaking. Crumbling into small pieces.

Bail . . . Bail Organa had betrayed Padmé. He had sold her out to Emperor Vader, so Bail could keep Leia as his daughter. This couldn't be true, could it? Bail was Padmé's friend. Her dear friend that she had trusted her daughter with. This was all a lie. A horrible trick of Vader's.

Even worse was the interrogation was not over. The small holoprojector continued to project the form of Bail Organa sitting in a chair with his arms bound behind him. The interrogator had moved on to talk about what Bail's future plans were for Leia, but Padmé had stopped listening. Her mind spun in circles.

Before she could properly think anything through, she jumped up and swung her hand as hard as she could. There was a gratifying sound as the back of Padmé's hand slapped into Vader's cheek. Both twins screamed and jumped at the action. Luke crawled over to Leia, and the two held each other. Both their big eyes were darting between their mother and father.

Vader brought his flesh hand up to his face and gently rubbed the reddening cheek. He straightened up and glared at Padmé. However, he wasn't as mad as she thought he would be.

"You know, angel," Vader said with a slight smile. "You do make the perfect wife to a sith lord. If you were a sith, your eyes would be burning yellow right now." She couldn't argue with that. She was pissed. She marched over to the still playing holoprojector. She picked it up and threw it against the far wall. While it didn't break, the projector did turn off.

"I want off this ship," she said as she turned back around. Her voice was low. That comment wiped the smile off Vader's face.

"No," Vader said.

"Yes," Padmé hissed back. "I do not want to be around you, near you, by you. At all. I want off this ship. Now. With my children."

"No," Vader growled. "You and the children are to stay here." There was an unsaid 'with me' left hanging in the air.

"I. Want. Off. This. Ship," Padmé growled back. "I want away from you. I don't care where. Your stupid palace on Imperial Center. An Imperial outpost. A prison planet for all I care. Throw us in a cell, but it is to be far from you."

"My wife and my children are to be by my side," Vader said as he rounded the couch.

"Your children?" Padmé said aghast. "No. They are no longer your children. Not when you show them murdered guards and staff because they were- what?- merely seen by them. Not when you show a man getting tortured and interrogated. What you just did was cruel. You have scared my children. Scarred them. And turned them away from you."

"What I did was show them the truth," Vader hissed. "If my daughter wants to cling and cry for Bail, then she needs to know exactly what kind of man he is. A man who stole her from her rightful parents."

"You stole her from Bail!" Padmé shouted back.

"I took back what was mine!" Vader said as he took a step closer to Padmé. "What should have always been mine!"

"People are not possessions. We are not items that belong to you. You of all people should know that, Anakin," she barked back. There was a quiet tense moment as Vader and Padmé, husband and wife, glared at each other.

"Why are you fighting me, Padmé?" Vader finally asked. "I'm trying to fix this! I'm trying to bring this family together!"

"This isn't how you do it!" she shouted at him. "You bring family together with love! Not fear!"

"So we should be a family made of lies again? Of false hope?" Vader shouted. " Should we go back to lying about being married? Bail lying he's Leia's father? Obi-Wan lying he'll raise Luke?"

Padmé didn't answer as she didn't completely disagree with this notion. This family had started off being built on lies from Padmé and Anakin's secret marriage. It seemed like lies followed them wherever they went.

"What do you mean about Obi-Wan?" she asked as she moved the conversation away from the part she actually agreed on.

"You should have watched the full interrogation, my love. Eventually Bail shares what Obi-Wan had planned for Luke."

A fresh wave of coldness washed through Padmé. Her eyes darted to her son who still sat on the couch. Leia and Luke were huddled together, tightly grabbing each other. Their eyes were wide with fear. Luke's lip was trembling. Leia's face was stained with tears.

"You put your trust in the wrong people, Padmé," Vader said. "Obi-Wan planned on training Luke to use the Force, so the boy could become a weapon. A weapon Obi-Wan and that Force-forsaken Yoda wanted to use to kill me. They were going to train Luke to kill his father without even knowing who his father was."

"You're . . . you're lying . . ." Padmé said softly. Her words had lost their edge.

"You gave your children away to keep them safe, while you tried to make a better galaxy for them. A noble cause. Yet the people you entrusted your children to never wanted to let you have those children again," Vader said as again he took a step closer to Padmé. "How does it feel? To have your own children kept from you? To have them lied to about their parent that was willing to give up everything for them?" Again he stepped closer. He was only about two steps away. "Heartbreaking isn't it?" he said in a low voice.

He held out his hand and the holoprojector floated into his hand. He held it out to her, but she didn't take it. Her mind was spinning. Inside it felt like she was broken. Sharp shards of her heart was tearing into her insides. How could everything have gone so wrong? How could Bail purposely take Leia and then keep Padmé away from her? Did Obi-Wan really plan on using Luke as a weapon to kill Vader? What was the truth in all of this?

"I have never lied to you," Vader said softly as once again he took another step closer. His free hand rested softly on her shoulder. She took a step away and Vader let his hand fall off her shoulder. She looked into his yellow eyes. She shook her head at him. Tears were starting to sting her eyes.

"I need to be away from you," Padmé whispered. "I can't be here anymore. I can't trust you anymore. I can't trust anyone."

She walked over to the couch and grabbed each child by their arm. She pulled them off the sofa. They both gave a soft whimper, but otherwise gave up no fight. She led them both into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Then all three of them climbed into the large bed together. She tightly held both children to her. Both children tightly clung on to her as well.

Padmé didn't even know where to begin. Her own mind was a mess. She could barely sort out her own thoughts, so how could she make it better for the twins. Yet they hadn't said a thing. Both were quiet. Both content to tightly curl up to their mother. The three just stayed like that for a long time until all three of them fell asleep.

Padmé's dreams were a mix. They flicked from one thing to the next. She was once again in the dark maze of hallways. Luke and Leia following behind her with glowing yellow eyes and holding a small red lightsaber.

Then she was back in the apartment she had lived in when she still had Luke and Leia as babies. Bail walked into the room and took Leia from her crib. Padmé tried to call out to Bail. But found she had no voice. Found she could not move. Bail turned around and looked at Padmé sadly.

The dream shifted again and she was running through the halls of a ship. Most likely a star destroyer. She was carrying a child. Clutching the child tightly. Her heart was pounding and she kept looking over her shoulder.

The dream flicked again. Luke was hunched over on all fours. One hand grabbed at his stomach. Blood started pouring from his mouth. He looked up. Fear was etched across his face. "Mother . . ." he said. "How could you do this?"

Again the dream changed. The place was filled with smoke. Padmé was coughing. As the smoke cleared she saw Luke standing over a fallen body. A blue lightsaber in his hand. Luke looked up at his mother. His eyes held a craze look in it. "I did it," Luke said. "I killed the Emperor. We're free, Mother. We're free." Padmé noticed the corpse was Vader.

The dream flicked again. There was a crying baby in the distance. Its wail were that of danger. Padmé needed to reach this child. It was her child, she was so sure of it. She ran through an indistinguishable landscape. She found herself running along a white wall. When she turned the corner, the wailing suddenly and sharply cut off. A man stood with his back to her. It was not Vader. The man held a knife that was dripping in blood. Padmé took a step forward and the man turned around. She gasped a name, but in the dream state she couldn't make it out.

"Let me see them!" she cried. The dream had changed again. She was in a cell. She banged against the orange energy field. On the other side stood Vader. He wore all black, but his clothes were rich and regal.

"No," Vader said darkly. "I've finally managed to put this family back together. My children finally love me. I won't have you ruining it again."

"No! Please!" she cried. But Vader turned away walking down the hallway.

She awoke with a start. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She could feel a thin layer of sweat on her skin. She put her hand on her chest. She could feel her heart starting to calm down. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Once a bit calmer, she reopened her eyes.

The ceiling above her was an off-white. Odd, Padmé thought. It seemed to be made of stone. It appeared to be iridescent with very light rainbows swirling amongst the stone. It made her think of opals. She sat up and fully realized this was not the star destroyer.

The room circular with a domed ceiling. She was in a large round bed against one of the walls. The walls were made from the same stone the ceiling was made of. Everything in the room was white. The white fur blanket on her bed along with the bedsheets and pillows. The dresser and nightstands were white. The lamps on the walls were white. Across from the bed was a small sitting area with white sofas. The metal detailing everything was also white. Large floor-to-ceiling windows stretched part of the curved wall to her right. Light wispy white curtains hung over the windows.

Padmé slowly got out of bed. She noticed she was wearing a white nightgown. She didn't think this was the same nightgown she had been wearing earlier. She walked over to the windows and pulled back the curtain. A white landscape met her view. There were no trees or plants. Just white stone and clear crystals that jutted up in sharp towers. Even the sky was white as it was completely covered in dull white clouds.

Padmé let the curtain fall. She glanced around the room again. There was an open door on the other side of the bed. It clearly led to a refresher. There was another open door by the sitting area. She went out that door into a quiet hallway. She followed into another room.

It was bigger than the bedroom she had woken up in, but like the bedroom it was also circular with a domed ceiling. It appeared to be a living room. Large white plush sofas and chairs were arranged together. There was a small white table with chairs. Like her room there were large floor-to-ceiling windows against the right wall.

In front of them stood Vader. He was looking out the window. His hands were clasped behind his back. He stood out painfully from everything else in his all black attire. She slowly approached him, but he never moved. He stood straight and still. She stepped up to the windows. A silence hung between the two.

"You said you wanted off the ship," Vader said quietly.

She was at a lost of words. She hadn't expected him to listen. Hadn't expected him to follow her wishes. She looked out at the white world.

"Where is this?" she asked. Her voice just as soft and quiet.

"Some place safe," he replied. "That's all I can tell you."

She looked over at him. He was looking at her. His eyes were a bright blue. He had a slight frown on his face. Padmé turned to face him completely.

"Ana . . . Anakin?" she asked.

He sharply turned away from her. His gaze going back to the window. She quickly stepped over to him. She brought a hand up to his far cheek. Her hand gently pushed his face so it faced hers once again. This time . . . there was no denying it. This was Anakin. Anakin Skywalker. The man she had fallen in love with. Padmé had seen Vader with blue eyes, but these eyes were so different. They were full of pain and regret and love. Anakin brought up his hand and gently placed it on top of Padmé's hand on his cheek.

"I . . . " Padmé started. "I always knew you were in there. I never gave up hope."

"Padmé . . ." Anakin said. His words were pained. "Please . . ."

"No," she said sharply. "You have to win this. You have to come back to me. To us. Our children. It was you last night when you were hunched over on the couch. It was you I made love to. But then Vader came back . . . He . . ."

Padmé recalled the holorecording. The horrible things that had been shown and said. The yellow eyes of Vader boring into her. The trembling forms of her children. Anakin brought her hand off his cheek, but he still held her hand.

"Padmé . . ." he said again. "There is no fight to win."

"Yes! Yes there is!" she said. "I won't give up on you!"

He took a deep breath. "Padmé, I am Vader. Vader is Anakin. We are not two separate people."

"Then what is this?" she asked desperately. "Who is this I'm talking to? It's not the same person who was in the sitting room showing that recording of Bail. Do not tell me you are the same person." He flinched slightly. His eyes seemed to flash gold. "See?" Padmé continued. "Even now you're fighting. Please don't give up. Please, Anakin. I need you."

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Padmé squeezed his hand. She knew he could do this. Anakin Skywalker was stronger than this. Was stronger than Darth Vader.

"It was you who brought me here?" she asked softly. "Not Vader, but you."

He opened his eyes and looked at her sadly. Then he slowly nodded his head. "I'll be leaving shortly," he said in a small voice. "So you won't have to be around me any more. At least for a while. I'm . . . I'm sorry Padmé. For all the pain I've put you through. For all the pain I've put our children through. This . . . this isn't what I wanted for you or them."

"Why . . ." she asked. Her voice was unsteady. Her emotions were bubbling up in her. There were so many different why's she could ask him. In the end she picked the one question she wanted to know the most. The one question that perhaps would answer all the others. "Why did you turn to the dark side?"

"To save you," he answered softly. It was the same reason he had given as Vader when they had lunch in the detention block right before he killed her crew.

"I didn't need to be saved," Padmé said softly. "You were all I needed. You could have saved me. Protected me. You. Anakin Skywalker. Not Vader."

His face was pained. "I see . . ." his voice was still soft. Almost a whisper. "Obi-Wan never told you."

Her heart pumped a wave a cold through her. "Told me what?"

"Five years ago, after you gave birth. I did save you. It was the only way, Padmé." His voice had been steadily growing louder. "You were dying . . ."

Padmé realized he was talking about what had happened after she had given birth, when she had been in a coma for two months. She freed the hand that was in his grasp. She placed both hands on his face. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Tell me what happened."

AN: Thanks everyone for the comments last chapter. It's always great to hear readers reactions and thoughts on your writing, which in turn motivated me to get this chapter out much faster. I'm excited about the next chapter as it was one of the very few Vader POV chapters the story will get. I will also add that the story is now past the halfway point. Thanks again for all the reviews, and shout out to all you quiet readers as well.