She collapsed in Vader's arms. He held onto her lifeless body, staring at her almost unchanged, still perfect face. She looked so peaceful, and he could feel her life pulsing through her. Vader used the force to crush her collar and threw it in the nautolan's direction.
He wanted to snap his neck so badly, but he wouldn't. He would do whatever Padmé asked of him, even though he didn't quite comprehend her reasons.
Vader made out everyone in the hall that wasn't wearing a collar and force pushed them to the other end of the hall. "Run!", he ordered. He only gave them this chance, because of Padmé, they wouldn't receive a second.
Some of the wiser ones obeyed and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Only a handful remained. "We have built and maintained this business with hard work. We won't give that many slaves up.", the nautolan announced.
Vader lifted him up effortlessly, yet he did so without choking him. "As if you would keep a single one of them. You won't even keep your life, you missed your chance to run."
"You're a bloody jedi!", the nautolan said while wiggling and struggling in Vader's invisible grip. "Run.", Vader repeated, eyeing every other slaver. "Don't lose your life because of pointless stubbornness." This time, all of them ran.
Vader hated to let the filth that had been involved with Padmé's enslavement get away, and he never gave second chances. Usually he didn't even give single chances. But Padmé had asked him, not to lose himself, so he obeyed her.
"How do you take off those collars?", Vader snarled, lifting the nautolan even higher. "Why would you do this? Fine, you can keep the one you're holding, just leave us alone.", the nautolan yelled.
Vader tensed of anger. "How dare you, speak as if she was yours to give away?", Vader snarled, trying hard not to kill him. "You can choose as many as you can get into your ship, I can give you money too. What are you trying to gain from this?"
Vader grew more and more impatient. "How do you take off those collars?", he repeated and dropped the nautolan, so he would almost reach the floor, but then lifted him up again. Vader felt how his anxiety grew and his pride shrank.
"My data pad! You can open the collars, it has unlimited range. But tell me why!" The nautolan pulled a pad out of his robes. Vader threw the nautolan onto a steel bar that was carrying the ceiling.
He kept holding onto Padmé with one hand, as he summoned the device. He found an endlessly long register full of numbers. As Vader entered the command to discard the collars, all of them lit up and then opened with a crack.
The slave's terrified screams turned into relieved sighs. "No!", the nautolan called and stared at the freed slaves. "Why? Why would you do that?" Vader pushed him a little bit, so that he almost fell of the beam. The nautolan fought to keep his balance.
"Jedi scum!", he cried. "The empire will learn of you." "Is that so?", Vader challenged. "You'll be killed exactly like the rest of them. Just you wait." Vader stopped playing with his victim, and gave the nautolan a final push.
His expression distorted in horror as he advanced towards the ground, but he didn't scream. His head hit the dirty ground, and made a squishing sound. The nautolan's green tentacles spread around what must have been his mushed face.
Vader knocked open the other exits, expecting the slaves to finally get away. "Go!", Vader said, as no one moved. "Where?", a mirialan asked. She stepped forward, obviously scared, holding on tightly to a human man.
"There's nowhere we could go. We don't even know how to get off this planet." Vader sighed. "The Empire will care. They will bring you back to wherever you were abducted as soon as they find the time." The mirialan frowned.
"The Empire? Most of us don't really like them." "I know.", Vader replied. "But there aren't a lot of options. Just stay in the area until they pick you up.", he added. He turned around, still holding onto Padmé, wanting to leave.
"Wait!", the mirialan called and ran towards him. The human who she was holding onto, followed her, yet it was obvious that he didn't was to come closer to the intimidating stranger than he had to. "Who are you?", she asked.
Vader pulled his hood over his head again. "That doesn't concern you.", he murmured and resumed walking. "Why are you taking her?", the mirialan continued, worry clinging to her voice. "Why do you care?", Vader asked back.
"She's my friend.", she stated and managed to stand in Vader's path. Vader frowned under his hood. "Your friend?", he asked. The mirialan nodded. "We kept holding onto each other up to this point. I want to know where you're taking her."
Vader estimated his options. "Do you know who she is?" Her face froze. "Is that why you won't leave her here? Because of her political value?" Vader's face hardened. So the mirialan did know. "No.", Vader only answered.
"So why then? We've been through a lot, I won't let her be taken away while unconscious." "I have personal reasons.", Vader only growled. The mirialan shrunk a little, growing scared. "Well, so do I.", she said anyway.
Even though she had begun shaking a little, she didn't budge and kept blocking Vader's way. "Protecting her honors you.", Vader said. He pushed back his hood a little, so only she would make out the outlines of his face.
Her eyes widened, but she understood. "She told me of you.", she murmured. "She said the day you died, had been the worst of her life." Vader cramped. "Certainly.", he said quietly. "Now will you let me go?"
"We will come with you.", the mirialan said. Vader snorted. "Excuse me?" "I want to stay by her side until she is better. Also, I don't really want the Empire to lay its hands on us." Vader grunted in frustration. "Fine. Quickly now."
The mirialan nodded and finally gave the way free. Padmé would want this. If they were really as close has the mirialan had said, she would want this.
Ahsoka finally reached the conference room. "You said he was calling?", Ahsoka asked, clearly excited. Obi Wan nodded and accepted the call. "Did you find her?", Ahsoka asked, not even letting Vader come to word.
"Yes, I did." Ahsoka grinned, and Obi Wan frowned. He had hoped to free Padmé before Vader could reach her. Maybe by asking the order for help, but it was too late now. "She is unconscious, but she should wake up soon."
"Are you on your ship already?", Ahsoka asked. Vader nodded. "Two of Padmé's friends insisted to come with us as well. We will come to Mustafar as soon as she is awake.", he promised.
Obi Wan couldn't help but wonder how Padmé had become unconscious. In general, he wondered what had happened on Atzerri. Ahsoka and he had followed Vader's fighter via the imperial tracking system, so they knew where he had been.
"She was sold on Atzerri, wasn't she?", Obi Wan asked. Vader frowned, but then nodded. "She was going to be.", he murmured. A shiver went down Obi Wan's spine, as he imagined what Vader must have done there.
"How long until you will be here?", Ahsoka asked. "The twins ask where you've gone all the time." Obi Wan could make out a slight smile wandering over Vader's face. "We'll be there latest tomorrow." Ahsoka nodded. "Alright. We'll wait."
Vader nodded and ended the connection. "You don't seem very excited about this.", Ahsoka said, not even facing Obi Wan. "Of course I am not. You know of my opinions on all of this." Ahsoka rolled her eyes.
"Can't you just at least be happy for Padmé?" "And why would I be happy for her? She probably didn't even want to come. She had seen him on Mustafar, he has choked her to unconsciousness there. She's no fool."
"What do you think happened to her now?", Ahsoka asked suspiciously. Obi Wan shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? She didn't want to come with Vader, so he knocked her out and took her against her will." Ahsoka's eyes narrowed.
"We can ask her what happened as soon as she's back.", Ahsoka snarled. Obi Wan nodded. "Trust me, I will. And as soon as I can, I will help her to flee." Ahsoka's face hardened.
"Help her to flee? Or separate her from her husband against her will?" Obi Wan snorted. "Oh please. I'm not Vader. But Padmé will be a lot more reasonable than you." Ahsoka sighed, exhausted, and left the room.
Padmé blinked against the light flooding her vision. She tried to figure out what had happened. She remembered being in the hall with the other slaves. Then Anakin had shown up. She lifted her hand to her face slowly.
The reality caught up to her once again. It must have been imagination. Here she was, waking up after another dream like all the other ones. Nothing had changed. Padmé noticed that she was lying on something softer than usual.
This didn't quite fit the dirty floor of the hall, that she thought she was sleeping on. A hand touched Padmé's. "You're awake. Finally, I was so worried." Padmé's hand closed around the other one. This was clearly Anakin's voice.
She managed to open her eyes to look at who was next to her. And it really was Anakin. Padmé grunted and closed her eyes again. "I'm still dreaming.", she said. "What?", Anakin asked. Padmé looked at him. "I dream of you every night."
Anakin frowned. "Padmé..." "You couldn't understand. You're just my imagination. In my head, you're still alive." Padmé smiled at him. "I wish you were in reality." "You're not dreaming, Padmé. This is real." Padmé shook her head.
"You died, two years ago. Obi Wan told me, he killed you." Anakin frowned. "He told me, he wishes he had." Padmé sat up. "Pinch me.", she said. Anakin raised his brows. "To prove that you're not dreaming?" Padmé nodded.
"In any of those dreams you've had, did you know that I was dead? Did you know that you were dreaming?" Padmé shook her head. "No, never. This is the first time." Anakin smirked slightly. "What is the last thing you remember?", he asked.
"We were in that hall. You were there, and the nautolan shocked me. That's all I know." Anakin nodded. "That shock he gave you, knocked you out. That was a few hours ago." Padmé frowned. Then, she touched her neck carefully.
She hissed as she felt the sore, rough skin. The collar was gone. And the necklace had slipped under her clothes. She pulled it out, carefully. Anakin's eyes widened. "Is that the carving I gave you?", he asked. Padmé nodded.
"I've kept it. I was always wearing it throughout the last two years.", she murmured, while standing up slowly. "I thought you were dead, Anakin. Obi Wan told me you fell into lava after your duel." Anakin gulped.
"I did. But I didn't die. Obi Wan... well... dissected me, and left me burning. But I stayed alive." Padmé's hand gripped Anakin's even tighter. It was his right hand.
Padmé pressed through the leather, not believing what she was feeling. She began unclipping the glove slowly, curious. She pulled the leather off his skin, to see a flesh hand. "How?", she gasped. Her hand wandered to his face, to his right eye.
"The scar is gone too.", she stated. He had already have the prosthetic limb when they married and got the cut over the eye shortly after. Anakin looked down.
"On Mustafar... I lost all my limbs, and some of my vital organs were completely burned. Including my lungs. Palpatine found me when Obi Wan already left." Padmé bit on her lip, as the name Palpatine exited Anakin's mouth.
"He saved my life. In a way. He turned me into a cyborg, and he didn't even try to make it pleasant." Anakin's face hardened, as he sank in memories.
"He put me into the armor and mask I am sure you heard of. They were meant to torture me to keep me obedient, but they also kept me alive." Padmé exhaled shakily. "Darth Vader...", she whispered.
Anakin looked at her, his eyes filled with pain. "Yes. I'm sorry Padmé." She looked at their hands, their fingers still crossed. Anakin waited, clearly expecting her to pull her hand away. "I restored my whole body a few weeks ago.", he explained.
"You were alive all the time. The two years I spent, thinking you were dead..." "I thought I killed you, Padmé. Sidious told me I killed you on Mustafar." Padmé snorted.
"Of course you didn't. I was close to death later that day, but not because of what you did. I survived and fled." Anakin gave her a weak smile.
"I'm so sorry for what happened there. I'd understand if you want to get as far away from me as possible." Padmé shook her head. "How could you even say that? You're my husband."
"After all that has happened, you can still call me that? After all that I've done?" Padmé had heard of Vader's actions, but it didn't change anything. This was the Anakin, that she had missed so much she had dreamed of him every night.
"Where are we?", Padmé asked, changing the topic. "Still on Atzerri. I didn't want to jump to hyperspace, with you still asleep." "Are we alone?", Padmé then asked. Anakin shook his head.
"Your mirialan friend didn't want to let you go alone. She insisted to come with us." Padmé grinned. "Nuha..." Anakin nodded. "Yes, her. And the human that was with her too."
"I'm glad. Nuha helped me through a lot. I wouldn't want to leave her behind." Anakin nodded. "If that's what you want, they can come with us." Padmé nodded. "Where are we even going?" "Mustafar. Provisionally." Padmé stared at Anakin.
"I had hoped, I would never go back there." Anakin nodded slowly. "Yeah, me too. But it's the best hiding spot." "It's fine.", Padmé promised. "Old memories don't matter. You're here now."