Padme did not know what to say. She had suspected what Vader's plan was for her, but did not have proof of it, until now. She quaked in his presence.
"What if the test shows I'm not their daughter? Will you let me go?" she bravely asked.
"That will not happen, and both of us know it," Vader responded. Padme was Han and Leia's child, and even if she could get her hands on the test to change it, Vader would know about it.
"How can you be my guardian if you are running the Empire?"
"The Empire is a well run organization. I choose to be a hands on leader, I don't need to be."
The girl's stomach churned. It was one thing to be in Vader's presence for the little time she had been captured, but to be with him every day...
"No!" Padme growled, the hate beginning to swell up in her. "Kill me now. I refuse to be your slave!"
The Emperor was taken aback by her declaration. She would rather die than be around him! Her saying this should have caused him great joy. But it didn't. It caused him great sadness.
"You are speaking irrationally..."
"Am I? I wish I never would have been born!" Padme screamed, turning her back on Vader.
"You do not mean that, Padme. It was a good thing that you were born," Vader softly said. "You made Leia very happy. Which is difficult to do in a time of war."
He approached the girl, and she turned around to face him.
"Your father loves you, too. In his own unique way. And your uncle, he is very proud of you."
"How do you know this?" Padme asked.
"I heard the entire conversation between you, Luke and Leia."
"So you knew? You knew...?"
"Yes. I knew it was you who stopped the tracking beams from being deployed."
"And you still cut off their hands," she exclaimed incredulously.
"It was an act of mercy."
"Mercy? Are you kidding me?"
"Disobeying a direct order from the Emperor is an immediate death sentence."
"Why? Why didn't you kill them?"
"Because I knew it would upset you!" Vader suddenly shouted. Padme did not expect to hear that answer from him.
"You have had a long day. Go take your shower and get ready for bed," he added. Padme did not move.
"GO!" he angrily yelled, pointing in the direction she should go in. She grabbed the towels and pajamas that laid on the table, and quickly left the room. A Stormtrooper led her to the nearest bathroom.
Vader leaned against his meditation chamber. He left his heart was about to come out of his chest. He had been too hard on Padme. Of course, she would want to protect her family! She was frightened of him, scared of what he may do to her. But other than gruffly grabbing her at moments, he did not harm her. Why could she not understand? Her destiny lies with him. He did not want to hurt her any further. But he was now stuck. He felt the anger slowly boil in her. He knew that anger all too well. The anger that led him to the Dark side.
When he first captured Padme, that was Vader's plan. Reveal to the girl that he was her grandfather, and have her turn to the Dark side, to use her against her parents and her uncle. But something had happened. Vader had compassion for her. Not because of how he could use her, or for her Force abilities. There was only one reason he could think of.
Padme was a lot like him. Not Darth Vader, but Anikin Skywalker. He understood how she felt, being torn away from the only parent she ever knew. He knew her fear of using her Force powers. He understood how lonely she felt, wondering what happened to her family, hoping that they were still alive. Now he saw how far Padme would go to protect the ones she loved from dying.
"No! You are dead!" Vader screamed. "You caused too much pain and suffering to everyone around you! That is why you are alone, trapped in this cursed armor. You are to blame for everything, including the imprisonment of this granddaughter of yours. You lost everything and everyone! Your wife, your children, your best friend..."
Vader held his head in his hands. The struggle was now on. Would he succumb deeper into darkness? Or would he finally choose the Light? But it was too late for him, he thought. That is what he had told Luke before he was brought before Sidious. Luke chose to love his father and forgave him. But because of fear, Vader rejected Luke when Luke refused to rule the galaxy with him. And Leia? She hated Vader then, and hates him now.
Then came Padme. This sweet, innocent and powerful Force user who was most likely his granddaughter. He was making the same mistake again, trying to force the one he loves to see this his way, to do what he wanted them to do.
He loves her. Vader loves Padme. It was a shock to him that he could even say the words to his mind, much less feel them. He loves Padme Shmi Desertwar or... Padme Shmi Organa-Solo, as he visualized what was written on her actual birth certificate.
"I wish I would have known you from before," Vader uttered to himself, as he prepared to enter his meditation chamber. "But you would still hate me, for who I am. I must meditate and decide what to do next." He sat down and waited for the top to be lowered down, so that he would be stripped of everything. Except for his heart.
Padme was not aware of Vader's dilemma. She was dealing with her own crisis of conscious. As she stepped into the shower, she allowed the tears to flow down her face. The dam of emotions swelled up in her. She meditated as she washed herself.
There was a small bench in the shower, and Padme decided to sit on it. She let the warm water run, even though she had finished showering. She started to breath in and out, taking slow, deep breaths.
"I need guidance. I need to know how to save my family from Vader," she said to herself, as she continued to breath.
"He will not stop until they are dead. They will not stop until they rescue me. And I am caught in the middle. There has to be a way to end this destructive conflict, once and for all."
She could feel the Dark side flowing in her. She thought back to what Obi Wan had said about being tempted.
"I have no choice, Obi Wan. I must submit to Vader and surrender to the Dark side. It is the only way to protect my family. When I fall, they will not want anything to do with me. But they will be safe from Vader. He will be more focused on training me, his new apprentice, than trying to track them down. He wants my power, he wants me by his side. I have to make this sacrifice, for my family."
"I cannot tell anyone this. My family will be safe and far away. Then I will pledge myself to Vader, and I will be his."
Padme stood up and turned the shower off. She dried her hair, put on her pajamas and made her way back to Vader's quarters.
She was concerned he would find out about her plan, but he was still in the meditation chamber when she entered the room. Padme was determined to prove herself to Vader. He could have killed her immediately, especially after finding out who her parents are. But he did not. Vader could not have been Emperor for the past sixteen plus years without being shrewd. To be the master over the person with the third highest midichlorian count in the galaxy was too irresistible to him. He had won. Vader had Padme exactly where he wanted her.