A/N: Please go easy on my duel description. I'm not experienced in writing action scenes.
Vader wanted to laugh at Padme's challenge, but he could feel that the force really was strong with her. She might actually put up a good fight. He still wondered how this was all possible, but that didn't matter now. He had to show her once and for all how powerful he really was. She would not get away this time. He drew his lightsaber as well.
Suddenly, Padme leaped towards him to attack. Vader deflected it, but was stunned at her intensity. She'd always been a soft person, but she struck with such a force. She continued to attack; each with a strong blow. Vader deflected each one, but then switched from defense to offense. His offense was very strong as well, as it pushed her into the cavern wall little by little. His blade came within inches of her face, but she rolled out of its way to the opposite wall before it could touch her. Vader spun around to face her as she crept towards him to strike. Vader defended himself before switching back to attack mode again. He led the duel away from the crystals and towards the outside of the cave. The ice and snow around them started to melt as their battle boiled.
Padme did let her mind wander a bit as she dueled. She could feel Anakin's anger as he fought. So, this is what it felt like to be one of Anakin's foes. She couldn't help but notice the irony of their duel. She thought Mustafar's Brother vs. Brother Duel was sad. This was Man vs. Wife! Then, she reminded herself, this was not her husband. Her husband was locked up somewhere in the black heart of this metal machine. She thought she could free him, but all her attempts so far had failed. Maybe if she defeated him at this battle, she would get another chance to try. Her mind shifted back to full concentration on this duel.
Little drops of snow dropped on their heads when they made it outside the cave. The evening brought a slight wind, but neither seemed affected. Vader was impressed with Padme's skills. Her style was similar to Obi-Wan's, as if they had been trained by the same master. However, he was not about to disgrace himself again with the mistakes he made last time. Whatever he did, he must not let her have any high ground. He tried not to aim for fatal territories such as the stomach or neck as he normally would. His goal here was not to kill her, but to weaken her to the point where she would join him or at least give them the location of their son. She did not show any signs of surrender so far, so he would need some help from the weather. He noticed the snowfall was getting thicker, and the winds were blowing harder.
They could hear the clashes of their lightsabers echo through the mountain range. As the light snow turned into a blizzard, Padme's hand began to feel the chill. She knew she couldn't let the frost get to her. Since Vader had no real limbs, the ice did not take its toll on him. As the cold made her hands weaker, Vader took this to his advantage. He got the opportunity to kick her square in the jaw knocking her head back for a second and cut a tear in her clothing. Padme took this as a warning. The next time she let the cold distract her like that, it could spell defeat. She went back to full focus despite her cold hands and bleeding chin. She made a giant twirling leap and went for a stronger offense. Vader raised his eyebrows (or what's left of them) at this rebuttal. He was especially shocked and sort of impressed as she managed to slice a piece of his cape off.
As they approached a large mountain, Vader got an idea. He struck his lightsaber above her head, to which she ducked. As she ducked, he flipped over her and faced her back. She spun around, making her back now face the mountain. Vader waited until they were only a few feet away from the mountain. Then, he took a strike at her feet, to which she jumped 2 feet into the air. However, Vader took this moment to force-push her into the side of the mountain. She grunted as her head hit the hard rock knocking her down.
"I must admit you have been trained well, but you can never overpower the dark side. They say if you can't beat them, then join them. It would be a wise decision for you to surrender as we finish." Vader said.
"Who said we're finished here? I'm not going to give up fighting you." Padme said panting heavily.
"Oh, that won't be necessary." Vader said as he turned a knob on his respiratory control box. Suddenly, an irritating high frequency buzz let out into the terrain. Padme covered her ears at the drum-shattering shriek. After about 30 seconds, Vader turned the knob back down to normal.
Padme uncovered her ears and chuckled, "I'm not going to give up to some high-pitched noise, Vader."
Vader smiled underneath his helmet. Suddenly, the ground started to shake violently, and Padme found it difficult to get off the ground. They heard a roaring sound behind them. Padme turned around to see a giant avalanche coming right towards her! She turned back around to see Vader already ran out of its path. She tried to get out of the way, but the avalanche ran right over her burying her in snow. Vader watched from on top of a tall rock. There was no way she couldn't surrender now, if she was still alive. After the snow stopped, Vader rushed out to look for her. Once he found her, he would take her back to his ship for interrogation. He grabbed his comlink and ordered the troops to come as soon as possible. He started looking for her in the spot he saw her last.
Several feet from the spot where Vader was feeling for a body, a woman's hand popped out of the snow looking for the surface. Vader searched in several spots, but couldn't find her. Suddenly, he felt her presence right behind him. He jolted around and deflected the blow she was about to drive into his back. She was covered in snow, but seemed to have taken little damage.
"Impressive, Padme, most impressive indeed." Vader said.
"It's going to take a lot more to get rid of me." Padme responded.
They continued on with their duel, but now they were headed up the mountain. Padme switched back to defense as their fight steamed up again. She waited for the right moment to make her move. As they came near a wall of the mountain, Padme aimed for Vader's knees making their swords clench near the ground. Padme let one hand free and used it to force push Vader. Vader caught this and returned the move with a force push from his direction. They stayed in place for a second, but then fell back in opposite directions. Padme's back hit the mountain, and Vader fell in the snow. As Vader was down, Padme used the time to start climbing up the mountain. When he got up out of the snow, Vader saw her going up the mountain, and crushed the rocks just above her with the force. The parts of rock fell down towards Padme's head, and it almost made her slip. Then Vader rushed to the wall and started to climb the side of the mountain as well.
Vader's mechanical limbs were very helpful when it came to rock climbing. In a few minutes, Vader was only a foot away from the spot where Padme was. When he got close enough, he started to swing at her with his saber in one hand. She tried to block his attack as she scurried up the mountain away from Vader's reach. Every time he came near her, she either tried blocking his attack or using the force to make rock crumble in his direction. After about half an hour, Padme made it to the top of the mountain first, and took a second to catch her breath. Vader, a couple feet away, force jumped to the top of the mountain. He could see Padme was tired; she was seconds away from defeat. When his feet touched the ground, his saber was held inches away from her throat. She moved it away from her neck with her own lightsaber, and stayed at defense while Vader's blows seemed to be affecting her.
When she tried to strike again, they ended up in a clench. Vader saw how the energy was being drained from her as this clench stood longer. Finally, Vader nipped at her elbows and knees, and she went to the ground, double over in pain. She looked behind and saw she was inches away from the edge of the mountain. She looked out farther to see they were on a cliff, and below was a giant lake of ice.
"When will you learn? You cannot defeat the dark side. It's far too powerful. I will offer you one more chance. I will end this now, take you back to my ship, clean you up, and I'll let you make the government however you want it to be." Vader said putting his lightsaber away and stretching out his hand. Padme looked at his mechanical hand, and then at his mechanical face.
"When will YOU learn, Vader? The galaxy I care about cannot just be handed to people. Also, the man I love is human, not a robotic Lord of the Sith!" She barked at him. Vader couldn't believe this, she was at the edge of death, but she still refused his offer.
"Alright, then. If you will not join, then tell me something, and I will spare your life and let you live as you please." Vader bargained. Padme looked up waiting for the question.
"Where is the boy?!" Vader asked loudly. Padme face didn't budge, until she responded,
"I'll never tell you where my son is. You'll never get your dirty evil hands on him!"
"There's more than one way of getting information from you." Vader said menacingly. Padme knew what he meant. He was going to read her mind for information! She kept her thoughts clear as she could feel his dark force searching her mind. Vader tried to search her mind for information, but she cleared her mind completely. Nothing he said would break her concentration. He grew aggravated as he realized she wasn't giving up the location of their son.
In an all out rage, he boomed, "You might be strong in the force, but only a fool passes up an offer such as mine!"
With that being said, Vader pulled a blaster rifle from his belt and shot Padme right in the shoulder sending her over the cliff.
A/N: The story isn't over quite yet! There is still one more chapter! Stayed tuned for the final chapter of She's a little Runaway.