When Padmé woke up, her head was resting on Anakin's shoulder. She knew that that wasn't how she fell asleep the evening before, she must've moved in her sleep. Anakin hadn't yet woken up. Padmé tried to remember her dream.
Unlike usually, she could barely recall anything. The fading pictures of her dream were already slipping away, but she could be sure that it hadn't been of Anakin. She looked up to his sleeping face, smiling.
She thought about everything that had happened the day before, still not quite believing it. Her children were safe and her husband was in fact alive. Padmé felt a warmth spreading into every corner of her body.
He had finally come back to her, or at least mostly. Soon enough all of him would return. The suffering he had endured in the past two years would leave him scared within, but not at all broken.
Padmé felt so safe by his side, it was barely imaginable that he was Darth Vader. But he isn't, Padmé told herself. He is Anakin Skywalker, my husband. The days in which he was Darth Vader are over now.
He moved a little and his eyelids fluttered. He seemed to be waking up as well. Padmé waited quietly until he opened his eyes. "Good morning.", she said gently. Anakin smiled down at her. "Morning.", he replied.
"You know, today was the first night in two years, in which I haven't dreamed of you.", Padmé said. "Really?", he said, a little surprised. Padmé nodded with a smirk. "I guess it's because I don't need to anymore.", she explained.
Anakin smiled back at her, his eyes still tired. "What time is it?", he asked. "I don't know.", Padmé answered. "I just woke up.", she added. "We should get up.", Anakin said.
"I have made the experience that the twins tend to wake up earlier than me." Padmé grinned. "They usually wake me up.", she said. Anakin began standing up slowly. It only took a minute until he was dressed.
"Don't wait for me.", Padmé said. "I'll join you in a bit." Anakin nodded and left the room. Padmé looked at the dirty clothes that were lying in the corner. She had simply dropped them, the evening before, they were truly filthy after two weeks.
She wouldn't just put them back on. So she had a problem with what to wear now. But first she was going to wash herself. She hadn't done so in weeks, and she yearned for the feeling of a clean body.
She disappeared in the bathroom to take a shower. She nearly moaned as the warm water hit her skin. She had missed hygiene. It took a while for her to scrub all of the dirt that had gathered off herself.
She avoided the water to hit her still sore neck as well as possible. When she finally felt clean again, she wrapped herself in a towel and left the bathroom. She began digging through the storages in the room.
These bedrooms were for guest dignitaries, there had to be clothes somewhere. First, all she found where holo devices and polished boots. It took a while until she found any garments at all.
The ones she did find where all part of imperial uniforms. She sighed. At least there were clean clothes. She left the jacket open, formal was the last thing she needed to be. Padmé braided her still wet hair loosely before leaving the room.
Obi Wan hadn't slept at all. He had feared that an imperial cruiser would come just as soon as he closed his eyes. The two years of constant hiding had left him horribly paranoid. It was hard to imagine that now, no one was looking for him.
Obi Wan sighed, it was a weird feeling to be officially dead. Obi Wan yawned tiredly before taking a last glance onto the controls. Nothing was in sight just like the last twenty times he had checked. He sighed.
Maybe Vader was right and this really was a safe place to be for them. Ahsoka stuck her head through the door. "Good morning, Obi Wan.", she smiled. He grunted in reply and made his way past her.
"Did you sleep at all?", she asked while shaking her head. "No, I did not.", Obi Wan answered. "What if something would come?" Ahsoka shrugged.
"I'm sure Anakin could have enabled some sort of alert. You need your rest, just like everyone else." Obi Wan raised his brow. "Perhaps so. But I couldn't have slept, even if I tried." Ahsoka sighed. "You're a hopeless case, you know that."
Obi Wan nodded. "I know.", he said. "You should sleep now, Obi Wan. We'll wake you up if anything happens." Obi Wan nodded. "Fine. That way, I won't be as tired tonight." Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "What, you want to be nocturnal now?"
Obi Wan smirked slightly. "One of us should be." "You are unreasonably careful.", Ahsoka sighed. "I'll go back downstairs.", she added, looking at Obi Wan. "Alright. I'll go to sleep after calling Yoda." Ahsoka frowned.
"You want to talk to him again? About what?" Obi Wan shrugged. "You know, I've been thinking about going back to Hoth. It's what Yoda told me to do. You could come with me." Ahsoka crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"And why would I do that? I thought I've been clear about how I feel about running from Anakin." Obi Wan sighed. "Come on! He doesn't need you anymore, he has Padmé now. She wants to help him just like you." Ahsoka frowned.
"I won't go. Not to Hoth, not now. He will think we betrayed him or something. And apart from that, you don't want him to know where the jedi are. He can track every imperial ship." Obi Wan nodded. He had thought about that.
But he would find a way around that somehow. "I'd figure something out.", he said. "I just don't want to leave you with him. This whole thing is very troubling, you shouldn't be alone." Ahsoka snorted.
"Even if you left, I wouldn't be. There are Nuha and Thral that share your opinions. Thral more than Nuha." Obi Wan raised his brows. "You know as well as I do, that that man is not qualified to give any moral support. He doesn't know anything."
Ahsoka chuckled. "True. But Nuha is a lot more considerate. Did you know she was a padawan?" Obi Wan frowned. "I did not. Wait, she is a padawan and Vader didn't kill her?" Ahsoka nodded. "And he spared most of the slaver's lives."
Obi Wan's eyes rounded in shock. "He let them go?" Ahsoka smiled at him. "He even gave them a second chance to run. He only killed a single one of them." "I can barely believe that.", Obi Wan said quietly. "I know.", Ahsoka said.
"But Nuha told me what happened yesterday.", she added. Obi Wan sighed. "I'll stay. I won't go without you." Ahsoka gave him a slight smile. "Thank you Obi Wan. I know how unsure you are about this."
"Indeed I am. Even though you managed to change my mind a little. If I would go now, I would probably come back after I figured out what to believe and do." Ahsoka's smirk turned into a grin. "That's good to know.", she said.
Obi Wan drove his hand through his hair and yawned. "You are probably right about rest. I think I will sleep now." Ahsoka nodded. "I'll see you later today.", she said and walked away. Obi Wan sighed. He wasn't going to sleep.
Sidious frowned as he looked over the report. He couldn't understand it. Vader had had an interesting week. First he had taken his children, Sidious had expected a few complications. Knowing that he hadn't killed Padmé, might have changed him.
But in fact it had accomplished something. He was lost enough to not consider that the old senator of naboo was alive. The news had actually helped Vader to torture himself more. He had been filled with enough hate to kill Obi Wan Kenobi.
At their last encounter Vader had almost died. Sidious had been glad to hear that Vader had defeated him. Sidious' apprentice was becoming powerful. Almost too powerful. Soon he had to be replaced, or he would replace the Emperor.
That's what his children were there for. But soon after Kenobi's death, Vader had begun to fly around in the galaxy. Partly, without obvious reasons. First he had visited an imperial military cruiser. Sidious was just as puzzled as glad.
He couldn't understand why Vader would investigate a simple case of illegal slavery, but he had killed the admiral of the cruiser in cold blood, and that was a sign of the darkness in him.
So Sidious would let it slip that Vader had taken action on his own. Then Vader went to mustafar, where the children had been taken before. This was all it said on the report. Why did he care enough about the cruiser to go there himself?
And why did he leave the executor? Sidious still needed him as a warrior. He was the second in command of the empire he couldn't just disappear in the outer rim.
Vader cramped as his wife appeared in an imperial uniform. She simply didn't belong in one of those. He decided to ignore it as well as possible. The twins were already wide awake, and grinned while their mother entered the room.
"Mommy!", Luke called and waddled towards her. "Good morning, honey.", Padmé smiled and kissed his cheek. Vader picked up Leia. "The rations are downstairs.", he said. Padmé nodded, still smiling. "Alright. Let's go then."
Vader and Padmé walked side by side, each one carrying one of their children. "Obi Wan is going to sleep now. He stayed up all night.", Ahsoka said, who was sitting on a table. Vader shook his head. "He's too cautious." Ahsoka grinned.
"I know. I told him the same." Suddenly an alert appeared on a display on the wall. Vader frowned. "Oh no.", he murmured. Padmé looked at it, puzzled. "The Emperor.", Vader explained at sat down Leia. "What?", Padmé cried.
"The mask is still in the ship, I have no time.", Vader said while going towards the door. "You need to stay away from any holo terminals.", Vader muttered before leaving the hall. "Anakin!", Padmé called after him. He turned to look into her eyes.
She was holding on to both of the twins. "Be careful, Anakin.", she whiffed. He nodded silently before continuing. He hurried outside, to the landing platform. How could he have been so stupid? He just left his mask behind.
It took a few moments until he had finally reached the fighter and got inside. The mask was still lying on the bed, where he had left it the day before. Finally he accepted his master's call from the ship'd terminal.
"Master...", he murmured. "Lord Vader.", the Emperor said hoarsely. "I've been following your actions with great interest lately." Vader cursed himself. He had made Sidious suspicious, this wasn't good. He waited for his master to say more.
"I was quite surprised when I heard of the admiral you decapitated." Vader gulped. "He was a criminal.", he said. "So I heard.", Sidious hissed. "Now, why are you on mustafar, Lord Vader?" Vader sighed under his mask.
Of course he knew where he was. "A flagship is no place to train acolytes, master. I picked mustafar for nostalgic reasons." Vader could see how a slight smirk appeared on Sidious face. He was overtaken by relief, he had said the right thing.
"And yet, I hope I do not have to remind you of your other duties." "Of course not. I will do what you ask, like always." "Indeed you will.", Sidious screeched. Vader remained silent, not knowing what to say.
Sidious appeared to have no doubts about Vader's commitment and submission. "I expect that you will continue to search for the remaining members of the pathetic religion you were a part of so long ago."
Vader looked down. "I will pay attention to their sightings, master." Sidious ended the connection without another word. Vader grunted in frustration and ripped the mask off his head. He hated having to pretend to be some kind of pet.
Sidious was a liar and traitor, and yet Vader acted like his slave. He stared at the black, expressionless mask in his hands. He sighed and headed back to the fortress.
"What happened?", Padmé asked concernedly as Anakin appeared, the mask in his hand. "Nothing much. He wanted to know what happened on the cruiser." Ahsoka's eyes widened, and Padmé frowned.
"The cruiser?", she said. "You killed someone didn't you?", Ahsoka asked right after. Anakin nodded in response. "The cruiser you were on, before Atzerri." Padmé recalled what the nautolan had said.
They had left the ship, because Darth Vader was coming. "Was it an imperial one?", she asked. Anakin looked at her, surprised. "Yes. How do you know?" "There was an imperial working with the slavers, now I understand."
That had been the slavers plan to hide from the empire. They were working together with them. At least some of them. "Was he mad?" Anakin snorted.
"Not more than usual. He would have executed the admiral anyway. He doesn't like it when one breaks his rules." A shiver went down Padmé's spine. "You killed the one in charge there?", she asked. Anakin looked down. "Yes I did.", he said.
A weird feeling took over Padmé. "On Atzerri... did you kill the slavers?" Anakin shook his head. "There was only one who didn't give up. The others were smarter." Padmé's eyes rounded. "You let them go?", she asked curiously.
If he killed the imperial that had helped the slavers, why would he spare the slavers themselves? "Yes. I tried to do what you said before you lost consciousness." A smile crawled onto Padmé's lips. "About that.", Ahsoka began.
"Obi Wan and I had a tiny argument, concerning how it came to your unconsciousness." Anakin's face darkened. "I can imagine what he assumed." Padmé frowned. "What do you mean?", she asked. Anakin looked at Ahsoka, who began playing with her fingers.
"He thought you knocked her out." Anakin snorted and shook his head. "Why would he think that?", Padmé asked, not believing what she heard. "Of course Anakin didn't knock me out. It was the slaver." Ahsoka grinned.
"So I was right. And he was so sure about it." Padmé's hands turned to fists. "I get what you meant, when you said he has strong opinions.", Padmé said with a hard voice.
"I will have a word with him. I wanted to wait with this, but I didn't realise this conversation was already overdue.", she added. "Padmé...", Ahsoka said and put a hand on her shoulder.
"He has been like this all the time. Just ignore it as well as possible." Padmé shook her head. "I will not.", she said. She left the room, having made up her mind. She wouldn't stand for Obi Wan thinking such things of Anakin.
She slowed down a little, reconsidering what she was going to say. After all, he was Darth Vader. But then she banned that thought. What Obi Wan was doing, was not helping Anakin.
He doubted himself enough, he didn't need anyone else to help him with that. Obi Wan couldn't just accuse Anakin of hurting his wife, and anyway Padmé still had to talk about the two years she spent, thinking her husband was dead.
"Obi Wan!", she said and opened the door forcefully. The jedi was sitting in front of a window in silence. He turned to her in surprise. "You told me, you killed Anakin! How dare you lie to me about my husband's death?", she called out.
Obi Wan frowned. "I wanted you to be as happy as possible. I figured you would rather live in peace with your children, then thinking about an evil sith lord. Who knows what you would have done." Padmé's eyes narrowed.
"You knew all the time?", she shouted. "I thought you were a friend, I trusted you." Obi Wan sighed. "I know you are upset. I know you are confused. But please stay rational. He might have changed a lot lately, but he is still Darth Vader."
Padmé clenched her hands to fists. "You had no right, to make any decisions in my stead. What I would have done, is my and only my business. And I have just heard that you assumed my husband harmed me." Obi Wan raised his brows.
"What reason os there to think otherwise? I saw him choking you at this very place before." Padmé took a step towards Obi Wan. "Those were five seconds, two years ago. You cannot base everything on his past mistakes."
Obi Wan stayed silent for a few moments. "I didn't tell you, because I thought your love to Anakin would blind you. And I was right. Please just take a few steps back and reconsider. I can help you to flee from this fortress, with your children."
Padmé's hand moved quickly. The next thing she realized was the clapping sound as her palm met Obi Wan's face. His cheek began to shimmer in a shade of red, but he ignored it. "Padmé..." But she intercepted.
"You have no shame, Obi Wan. Anakin was your friend." Obi Wan sighed. "Ahsoka has already convinced me partially. I just want to make sure you're safe. I could bring you out of here, and stay myself to help Vader." Padmé relaxed a little.
"I will not leave my husband, Obi Wan. Not ever. Did I make myself clear?" Obi Wan nodded. "I am sorry Padmé. I really had hoped you would stay more sensible." Padmé gave Obi Wan a sour look before slamming the door behind her.