"Where Daddy?", Leia whined. Ahsoka only gave her a smile. "He will come here soon, don't worry. And he might bring your Mommy with him. We just have to wait a little while." Leia frowned. She was obviously tired of waiting.
"Luke and I, play outside?", she then asked. The two were used to Thyferra, of course they hated being locked indoors. "I'm sorry. But you can't.", Ahsoka told her. The bubbling lava pits were certainly no place for a child to play next to.
Ever since she had come here, she had imagined what had happened to Anakin. From what Obi Wan and Vader had told her, she had gotten a pretty good picture of how things must've went down. She shivered a little.
He had literally been burning in one of those lakes. And that after losing all his limbs. She didn't understand why Obi Wan hadn't helped him. He could have saved him, and then imprison him for what he had done.
There was no excuse for what Obi Wan did instead. Sure, Anakin was traveling down the path of the dark side, but that was no reason to leave him to die like that. Even killing him, ending his misery would have been better. Leia began to pluck at Ahsoka's leg.
"Catch me.", she demanded and waddled away. Ahsoka suppressed a chuckle before slowly following her. If she could entertain Leia this way, she was glad to do it. Two bored toddlers were sure to distract her from her thoughts.
It was so weird to imagine, that these adorable twins were the children of the sith that had been bringing death and destruction to every part of the galaxy in the last two years. They were so pure and innocent.
Obi Wan entered the room carrying Luke with a frown. "Padmé said they were fully potty trained.", he grumbled. Ahsoka only grinned at him, resuming to play catch with Leia. He gave her a bitter look before leaving through another door.
Today, Ahsoka had clearly made the better choice, who to look after. Ahsoka continued walking behind Leia, sometimes advancing a little more to motivate her, sometimes letting her get away to make it interesting for her.
After they had caught each other for the umpteenth time, Ahsoka's thoughts returned to Vader. He hadn't called them yet, even though he should have already reached the coordinates the admiral had given him.
Usually he would have already given them an update about what he had found out. Why not this time? Obviously he was impatient, after all it was his own wife he was trying to save.
Ahsoka decided to understand the fact that he hadn't called them as a good news. It probably meant that he was getting closer.
Obi Wan was finally done, changing Luke. This was definitely not his kind of work. It seemed impossible that that little boy was the offspring of the dark lord Vader. Yet he was like a tiny version of his father.
Every time Obi Wan looked at him, he saw nothing but a smaller Anakin staring back. Obi Wan had spent a lot of time, thinking about what Vader had said, looking for hidden truths that would somehow grant Obi Wan some kind of understanding.
Vader had claimed that he had admired the jedi. That sentence was ridiculous. And yet... Obi Wan grew more and more frustrated with every day, not knowing what to think or believe. If Obi Wan could turn back time for thirteen years, what then?
Would he kill the little slave boy, who would grow up to be Darth Vader? Or would he be foolish enough to try and change his fate? So many questions flew around in Obi Wan's head, he couldn't answer one of them.
Had there ever even been a chance to prevent what had happened? Or was the little boy, Qui Gon had thought was the chosen one already predestined to become the evil mass murderer he was today.
Would his children follow in his footsteps? Or was Yoda right, and they were going to fulfil the prophecy in their father's stead? Obi Wan looked down at Luke, as a weird feeling spread in him. Was this his chance to stop a catastrophe?
How would things have been if someone had killed Anakin when he was in this age? Would it have been wrong, considering all the things he would do as Darth Vader?
Leia and Luke would become monsters like their father if Obi Wan wouldn't manage to get them out of here soon. Obi Wan's heart began hammering as he grew conscious of his hand lying on his saber's handle.
He imagined cutting down Luke right here. Now, he was an innocent boy, but soon his father would have trained him to be a force user, controlled by darkness. Every single muscle in Obi Wan's body tensed. Was this murdering a child?
Or was it the protection of the galaxy? Was there even a line? Obi Wan panted in shock as he realized what he was thinking about. How was this any different from what Vader had done in the temple?
Obi Wan stared at his hand that was still lying on his weapon, and the little boy who was looking up to him with round eyes. Hadn't he just promised himself not to fall to the dark side under any circumstances.
Obi Wan shook his head, trying to ban the thoughts that were betraying him. It had come a lot further than it was ever supposed to go. Obi Wan hadn't been careful enough, somehow his mind had been poisoned a little.
He stumbled back, which was commented with a surprised gag by Luke. Obi Wan walked a few steps backwards away from the boy he had almost murdered.
"Gather around!", the nautolan instructed. Padmé frowned, wondering what he was going to say, while the slaves formed a crowd around him. "We're here, because you were found.", he began. Padmé's eyes widened.
That's why they had left orbit in such a hurry earlier. But if they fled before planned, because the empire had found out about them, how had the man in the imperial uniform fit the picture. She didn't expect the nautolan to explain that to them too.
"Usually, we don't store slaves here, but only sell them. This is an exception. So, I am warning you now, if you try anything funny, we will simply kill you. We won't take any risks here. I'm telling you this because of thrift."
Many in the crowd gasped. "And one more thing.", the nautolan announced, while a smirk spread on his face. "The empire found out about you, and Darth Vader came for your rescue. Yes, the Darth Vader." Padmé didn't move.
"And yet you're still slaves. That's how hopeless you should be." Padmé glanced over to Nuha, who was staring at the nautolan in equal shock. It was obvious what the nautolan was trying to achieve by telling them this.
He wanted them to think that there was no way out, that not even Darth Vader had been able to free them. But his words caused something else in the slaves. Blank fear. Why would a sith lord come, only to free some slaves.
There was something else, something important, that Padmé missed to understand what was really going on. Maybe the nautolan was keeping it from them. But Padmé believed, not even he knew.
"Alright, that was it.", the nautolan said, and the slaves went back to their little groups. "That explains what you felt in the pod.", Padmé said and Nuha nodded. "Probably. But there was more to it, I just know it." Padmé frowned.
"You mean there were more than only him. Maybe Sidious?" Nuha shook her head. "That's not what I mean. There was something going on in him." Thral snorted. "What?", he asked, whit skeptic swinging in his voice.
"I don't know.", Nuha murmured and eyed Padmé curiously. "What?", Padmé asked, growing uncomfortable under Nuha's look. "You...him...I can't explain it.", she only said. A shiver went down Padmé's spine.
What was that supposed to mean? Thral looked at Padmé suspiciously. "You and him? Are you an imperial?", he asked with a slightly raised voice. Padmé stared at him in shock. "Are you suggesting I am working together with that sith?"
Nuha shook her head. "Not at all!", she promised. "Like I said, I can't explain it." Thral's expression loosened a little. "He'll chase us, won't he? Why would he give up when he was so close to finding us?" Nuha shrugged.
"I don't know why he came anyway. He should be considered a little overqualified to find a few slaves." Padmé continued ruminating about it, but she couldn't make up any rational explanation. "He came for you, Padmé.", Nuha said quietly.
"I believe that is what I feel." Padmé stared at her. "What? That makes no sense, the Emperor didn't seem to care about me going free. I haven't been any sort of threat to him in a long time." Something crashed.
The sound was reverberating through the hall and left Padmé deaf for a moment. Her heart began hammering in her chest while everyone turned to the entrance, alarmed. Something was going wrong again.
Nuha's eyes were ripped open and she looked like she was holding her breath. "I feel something.", she panted. "Fury." Padmé's eyes swung back to the entrance the noise had come from.
She fought the urge to run away as fast as she could. Thral put himself in front of Nuha, attempting to protect her from whatever would enter the hall. Almost every slave fled to the other end of the room, away from the source of the crash.
But not Padmé. She stayed right where she was, not moving a muscle. "Padmé!", Nuha cried from behind, but Padmé ignored her friend. She didn't know why, she didn't think about it at all. She was just standing there, frozen.
"Padmé!", Nuha screamed, even louder, but Padmé didn't turn to her. Instead she touched the little necklace that was dangling in front of her chest. As soon as her fingertip's skin touched the carvings, she knew she was safe.
A few slavers that had been guarding the entrance flew across the room and crashed in middle of the slaves. They got up, slowly recovering from their fall.
Out of a cloud of dust appeared a tall hooded figure, dressed all in black, with a gloved hand raised. Some of the slaves behind Padmé were screaming in terror, but not Padmé. She didn't even dare to blink.
The others were shielding their eyes from the dust that was now swirling around in the air, but Padmé didn't move a muscle. She had no idea why, but she knew, she wanted to stay right were she was, in front of the hooded stranger.
The figure marched forward with a determined step, but then suddenly stopped, as he saw Padmé standing alone, in the center of the hall. There were a few moments of absolute silence, in which Padmé couldn't hear any of the terrified screams.
All she could make out, was herself and the hooded stranger. He lifted his hands up to his hood and Padmé held her breath. He slowly let it drop. Time stopped at this very moment. Padmé's eyes widened in shock as she saw him.
Anakin.
She forgot everything around them. The slaves, the hall, the slavers, everything. Anakin was dead, how was this possible? The next thing she realized was that she was running towards him.
She didn't know how she managed to cross the distance as fast, but it only took a few moments until she had thrown her arms around his neck. "You're alive.", she whispered, while panting. "But how?" Anakin only looked at her with pain.
"You don't hate me?", he asked quietly. Padmé snorted, unbelieving. "I love you.", she said. Anakin opened his mouth but didn't speak. He only looked into her eyes silently. "What do you think you're doing, feisty one?!"
The nautolan's words cut through their bubble and pulled Padmé back into reality. A shock bolted through Padmé's flesh. She suppressed a cry of pain and held onto Anakin, trying not to fall over.
In the next moment, the nautolan was choking. Anakin was lifting him up from the other side of the hall. Padmé stared at him, while he was dangling in the air, gasping and gagging for air.
Then she looked back at Anakin who was eyeing him in concentration. Padmé saw the sparkling blue eyes, she loved so much, but there was a shadow deep in them, that Padmé despised. She gripped his face to make him look at her.
"Look at me, Anakin.", she whiffed. He let go of the nautolan immediately, who fell to the ground, coughing and panting. "Don't do this.", Padmé murmured and pressed her forehead against his chest.
"Are you alright?", he asked her full of concern. "I'm fine. That wasn't the first one I got." Anakin's face darkened. "Why would you want to protect them? After all they've done to you." Padmé shook her head slowly.
"I don't want to protect them, Anakin. I am trying to protect you." Anakin frowned. "I have seen this before. I won't lose you!", Padmé called out, fighting her tears, as pictures of the worst day of her life flooded her mind.
Anakin closed his eyes, then nodded. He wanted to say something but the nautolan found his voice again too soon. "Who do you think you are? And what are you doing with my merchandise?", he panted and began typing on his data pad.
"Fool.", Anakin grumbled. "That's it.", the nautolan snarled. This time, Padmé couldn't hold back her scream. The shocks had never been as intense. Padmé waited for it to stop, so she could catch a breath.
But instead, it continued. Her fingers dug into Anakin's shoulders, as she fought to stay conscious. She felt how he held on to her, keeping her from falling, before everything turned black around her.