Leia had a shocked look on her face. Did Padme figure out all her secrets?
"What about Vader?' she bravely asked her daughter.
"He is coming here!" Padme uttered, the blush of anger fading quickly to paleness.
"Are you sure? Padme, I know what I said is scary, but Vader..."
"He is coming, along with a bunch of Stormtroopers," Padme insisted. The look on her daughter's face gave Leia the proof she needed.
"Go to your room and lock the door. Your grandfather's lightsaber is in a wooden box on the top shelf of the closet. As soon as you grab it, escape out of the window. Run Padme, and don't look back!" Leia instructed.
Padme immediately did as Leia said, rushing up the stairs to her bedroom. She ran to the closet and quickly grabbed the wooden box. She slipped some shoes on and was about to go out the window, but froze in place.
She looked down and saw Stormtroopers surround their home. There was no way Padme could escape now. She forced herself away from the window and stood next to her locked door.
"It's too late," Padme moaned, tears streaking down her face. "We are going to die!"
She stared at the wooden box she held in her hands. Carefully, she opened the box and grabbed the lightsaber. This was her grandfather's weapon, the weapon of a Jedi. All Padme knew about her grandfather was that he died around the time Order 66 was executed.
Padme would have wondered more about what little she knew about her grandfather, if she had not heard a gentle male voice speak to her mind.
"Padme, do not be afraid. The Force is strong with you." Her eyes widened in shock.
"Who are you? And how can you tell me to not be afraid? Do you know..." Padme argued with the strange voice.
"Yes, I know. Vader is downstairs with your mother, as we speak. Padme, your new life begins now."
"So I am going to die," she softly whispered, not wanting anyone to hear.
"No, my child. You will live, and your mother will live as well."
"But how?"
"You must go where your mother does not want you to go. But it is part of your destiny. Do not be afraid, the Force is with you."
The voice vanished, and Padme trembled. Even if she was not Force sensitive, she knew exactly what the voice was telling her. She was about to calm herself with her breathing, but stopped when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Stormtroopers!" she hissed in disgust. Were they about to go into her room and grab her? But then she quickly focused herself in the Force.
"Tell your Emperor there is no one upstairs. You have looked in all the rooms, and they are empty," she uttered, loud enough so that the Stormtroopers could hear. Padme waited tensely, then breathed the biggest sigh of relief when the troops walked downstairs. Padme slowly opened her door to hear what they would say.
"Emperor, we have looked in all the rooms. No one is upstairs," she heard one of them tell Vader.
Padme would have been jumping for joy, if not for the current situation. She had just performed a Jedi mind trick! The voice that spoke to her earlier was right. She was strong in the Force.
"Stay upstairs. He is still here," she heard Leia speak to her mind. Padme's heart sank. Of course, Vader would not believe in his own troops!
Then she heard another voice, the voice that came in her nightmares, mechanical and breathing heavy. He knew Padme was upstairs, and called out to her in a loud voice,
"If you do not come downstairs, she will die!"
Padme shivered in fear. The male voice that spoke to her earlier said,
"Go downstairs. Stop resisting, Padme. Do as the Emperor says. Trust in the Force."
With all her courage, and against her better judgment, Padme took the lightsaber and made her way downstairs. She turned the weapon on. It gleamed a bright blue color. She would have felt like a warrior, if it wasn't for the fact she was about to encounter the most feared man in the galaxy.
Padme stepped into the living room, and gasped. Her mother was tied up in the recliner, and Stormtroopers had their blasters aimed at her. Padme scanned the room, but she did not see Vader. She gripped the lightsaber tightly with both hands.
"Let her go!" Padme bravely growled at the troops. The Stormtroopers turned and pointed their weapons in the girl's direction.
"No!" Leia screamed in terror. Padme took deep breaths, anticipating the need to deflect blaster shots. She prepared herself for what would have her death and Leia's. At least she would take out a few Stormtroopers with her.
"No, this is not right, what I am about to do," Padme thought to herself. "The voice said to stop resisting." She knew what she had to do. She turned off the lightsaber.
As soon as she did that, Padme felt a gloved hand on her shoulder. She saw her captor's arm extend out, freezing the blaster bolts that were coming in her direction. Her eyes widened. She was this close to death, and the person that stopped the shots from striking her was none other than Vader himself. In amazement, she saw the bolts vaporize into the air. The Stormtroopers looked confused, still pointing their weapons in her direction.
"Hold your fire! She is not to be harmed!" Vader menacing voice screamed at them. This caused the troops to step back in fear, and Padme to quiver.