A/N: I'm Back! Sorry for my prolonged absence, but I was at a retreat for a time, and my computer crashedeverything lost. Took and is taking some time to rebuild. I will update once a week most likely, though if I can make once-a-day, I shall try. Thanks for understanding.
5 Things That Never Happened To Padmé Amidala
I
"Your Highness?"
She did not turn to face the Handmaiden. "Your Highness, we must leave now if we ever plan to."
The Queen still did not face her old friend. She gazed out the large window in abject sadness from what she knew she had to do.
"I don't know if I can do it."
"You can, and you must." The Handmaiden consoled her. "You have a responsibility to the Naboo and a responsibility to yourself. Is staying here and dying going to fulfill that responsibility?"
"You always know the right thing to say, don't you?" The Queen smiled wanly. She finally turned to face the Handmaiden. "Sometimes, Padmé, I cannot help but wonder why it is not you in these robes and me in those."
"Oh, Sabé, I would never have been elected; I was far too young. Perhaps with the next election, we can trade places." Padmé Naberrie smiled back.
"If there is a next time." Sabé sighed, then nodded. "Have Panaka prep the ship; we'll leave."
II
"3PO, search the ship. Make sure that Master Kenobi is not on board."
"No need to waste his time, Padmé." Obi-Wan appeared in the doorway.
"She stood. "Get off. Now." A pleading note crept into her voice. "Please, let me do this. If he can't be saved, then I'll tell you where he is. But please, Obi-Wan, let me try."
He looked resigned. "All right."
"I saw your ship."
Padmé looked up at her husband as she exited his embrace. He asked, "What are you doing out here?"
Her voice trembled. "I was worried about you." Her breathing was erratic, as though she were on the verge of sobbing. "Obi-Wan...told me terrible things," was all she could bring herself to say.
"What things?" Anakin's voice was harder than usual, but she didn't notice it.
"He said..." She breathed, "You've turned to the Dark Side. That you..." she broke off, her voice cracking, "killed younglings."
Anakin leaned down slightly and said softly in that voice of his that she had come to love, "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me."
She shook her head. "He cares about us."
"Us?" His voice was in the same whisper, but it was not the same.
She nodded. "He knows." She stroked his arms as she said, "He wants to help you."
He smiled softly, trying to show that he was the Anakin she always had known.
"Anakin, all I want is your love." She looked into his eyes hoping against hope that she was right.
She wasn't. "Love won't save you, Padmé." She saw the change—so small, yet there it was. "Only my new powers can do that."
"At what cost?" She knew she had to try and save him. "You're a good person, don't do this!"
He was sad. "I won't lose you the way I lost my mother." So that was it. "I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of. And I'm doing it for you. To protect you." As he spoke, Anakin seemed to slip away.
She decided to try a different tactic. "Come away with me. Help me raise our child," she begged, stroking his head. "Leave everything else behind while we still can."
He changed then—like a weight had been abruptly taken off his shoulders. Neither of them had any way of knowing that it was his subconscious self throwing off the weight of Lord Sidious; there was no Vader—only what Palpatine had driven him to do. Yoda was wrong; Anakin did not choose to be a Sith—and now he made a choice that would save the galaxy.
"All right. I'll leave with you. We can't send the Chancellor a notice; he'll only try to hunt us down. Where can we go?"
"We go to Naboo—they will be far more willing to help me than Palpatine, especially with what is happening. If not the Lake House, then the Gungans, or Tatooine, or Bespin, any place. But we have to go, Ani."
He nodded. "Then let's go."
III
"Save your energy."
"I can't."
"Don't give up, Padmé." Obi-Wan gripped her shoulder.
Padmé sighed deeply. "Can you help me, Obi-Wan? Stay with me, protect me, help me?"
"I can." Obi-Wan was resolute. He owed it to the man that Vader killed.
"Then I'll try to hold on. But I need help."
"Whatever you need, Padmé," he gripped her hand and kissed it, "I'm here."
IV
"You call this a diplomatic solution?" Anakin grinned at her as he blocked an incoming blaster bolt.
"No; I call it aggressive negotiations," she returned, smirking as she shot a droid. Anakin was good with the lightsaber. But not good enough. A shot came through his guard. For a moment, there was nothing. Then there was a punch in the chest that burned. Distantly noted, it didn't hurt at all.
"No!" From far away, a voice called. A figure knelt. "Padmé, come on, you can make it!"
But Anakin was, for the second time in as many days, too late. Padmé was gone.
V
"3PO, search the ship. Make sure that Master Kenobi is not on board."
"No need to waste his time, Padmé." Obi-Wan appeared in the doorway.
"She stood. "Get off. Now." An edge crept into her voice. "I will do this alone. If he can't be saved, then I'll tell you where he is. But not until then."
He looked resigned. "All right."
"I saw your ship."
Padmé looked up at her husband as she exited his embrace. He asked, "What are you doing out here?"
Her voice trembled. "I was worried about you." Her breathing was erratic, as though she were on the verge of sobbing. "Obi-Wan...told me terrible things," was all she could bring herself to say.
"What things?" Anakin's voice was harder than usual, but she didn't notice it.
"He said..." She breathed, "You've turned to the Dark Side. That you..." she broke off, her voice cracking, "killed younglings."
Anakin leaned down slightly and said softly in that voice of his that she had come to love, "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me."
She shook her head. "He cares about us."
"Us?" His voice was in the same whisper, but it was not the same.
She nodded. "He knows." She stroked his arms as she said, "He wants to help you."
He smiled softly, trying to show that he was the Anakin she always had known.
"Anakin, all I want is your love." She looked into his eyes hoping against hope that she was right.
She wasn't. "Love won't save you, Padmé." She saw the change—so small, yet there it was. "Only my new powers can do that."
"At what cost?" She knew she had to try and save him. "You're a good person, don't do this!"
He was sad. "I won't lose you the way I lost my mother." So that was it. "I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of. And I'm doing it for you. To protect you." As he spoke, Anakin seemed to slip away.
She decided to try a different tactic. "Come away with me. Help me raise our child," she begged, stroking his head. "Leave everything else behind while we still can."
"Don't you see?" Anakin smiled. "We don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic." He was vanishing into a person that she didn't recognize. "I am more powerful than the Chancellor. I—I can overthrow him," he realized as Padmé began to back away. "And together, you and I can rule the galaxy...make things the way we want them to be."
She saw the hunger for power in his eyes. Part of it frightened her. But it also...attracted her. She backed away. "I don't believe what I'm hearing." She shook her head, trying to clear the intense...attraction she felt to him at that moment. "Obi-Wan was right. You've changed."
Anakin seemed to tense, then turned away for a moment before saying, "I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan." His voice darkened. "The Jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me."
She fought the attraction desperately, showing the desperation on her face. "I don't know you anymore." She shook visibly. "Anakin...you're breaking my heart." She began to cry. "You're going down a path I can't follow."
"Ah, but you can. I can see it, buried deep inside, hidden, perhaps even from yourself. You desire power as much as I do—maybe even more. You want the power Palpatine has. And so do I." Anakin—no, Vader—grinned at the revelation of Padmé's heart. "Come with me. We can kill Palpatine. We can have his power for ourselves. The people love us, and they'll trust us." He gazed into her troubled eyes. "That's it, isn't it? The trust. It's infectious. It's addictive. You want trust, you need it. And in that trust comes power. Join me. We can end the corruption, and reform the Republic as we see fit."
She wavered, then gave in. "Yes."
