For the first time in over a year, Darth Vader was excited last night. Excited for one of the most simple yet needed motion, sleep. Though through his excitement it was only returned in equal disappointment. He had hoped to himself that he would spend the dream realm with his love once more but it was not meant to be. For the first time since becoming the dark lord he meditated and searched for there bond. She was alive, there shared dream had proved to him that the bond hadn't dissipated only diminished.
Using the force in deep meditation he reopened the bond, it would sure lead him to Padme. What he found caused deep anger to once again swell inside of his chest. The bond seemed to disappear towards the outer rim some where, that could only explain one thing, she was close by a force wielder. Though he was sure trained to block her force signature, he knew he wasn't that strong in the force. He half wished it was Obi-wan, to kill him and get Padme back in one strike. Kill two birds with one stone as the saying goes. Unfortunately he was too weak to be Obi-wan, but never the less Vader was determined to find the Jedi and end his misery. No doubt he was probably keeping her against her wishes, preventing her from being with him. If he touch a hair on her head I will make death seem more enjoyable than sex being physical.
Hours had passed and yet he could not find where this wielder or his sweet angel was. Deciding that it will only result in inevitable disappointments he decided to try a new approach, one more hands on. Instead he followed one of the many false signs of her presence, area's where she had been but was no longer present. Reaching over he grabbed his comm and beeped to the bridge of his mighty star destroyer.
"Commander, set course for the planet Mygeeto."
"Yes mi lord." He replied. It was quite apparent that anyone that question or even hinted at questioning lord Vader's commands, never stayed alive for long. He wasn't going to make that mistake. Within a few hours the ship came to a halt as it stopped a few hundred kilometers away from the planets atmosphere.
"Were entering the atmosphere now sir." The bridge officer commend and then decided to hang up before he would be force choked, ever afraid of the consequences of irritating the dark lord.
Vader walked up to the bridge and instantly started to bark orders as soon as the doors opened up allowing him passage.
"Head straight to the capital."
"Yes sir." The commander nodded, and started to direct the ship to one of the docking bays in the massive city. Vader could feel Padme's force aura getting stronger, though he knew she was no longer on planet he could tell its been a couple weeks tops since she had been here. He would find out where she went, and then no one could stop him from getting her back.
He followed her signature to a jewelry shop which oddly enough had condo's located on top. Walking in the door chimed as he felt the cool air rush across his back.
"I said were closed damn it!" A man which looked like he was 50 years of age yelled before walking through the door to meet his visitor. His mouth dropped wide open in shock, never in a million years would he expect Darth Vader of all people to walk into his shop. Not even enough time passed for him to get over the shock of staring the dark lord in the face, did he feel being picked up by what seemingly was nothing and slammed into the wall.
"A woman was here a few weeks ago, where is she?" Vader demanded.
"This is a Jewelry store, a lot of woman come in here." The man spoke out clearly afraid.
"She was here for quite some time, if your unwilling to cooperate I can find useful ways to persuade you too." Using the force he started lightly to choke the man, enough to cut off his oxygen supply but still enough to speak.
"You must mean that Naberrie woman! The SS took her, I thought you would known that." The man lightly accused and then suddenly realized his mistake.
"Where did they take her!" He yelled, using the force the glass display cases shattered causing even a more frightening effect.
"I don't know, I swear lord Vader if I did I would tell you." Those would be the last words he would ever mutter. Using the force he picked him up and slam him against the wall with such an impact that it completely shattered his spinal cord and his rib cage. The man died from drowning in his own blood. Only one person could be responsible for this out rage, Sidious.
Turning around his cape blew up in the air as the wind started to pick up, the commanding storm trooper that followed spoke up.
"Sir what should we do with the body?" He asked quite ignorantly, Darth Vader just glared at him. His reply was swift but brutal, using the force he focused on the young mans waist and tore his upper body from his lower body, his scream could be heard kilometers away.
Vader returned to his ship, immersed in darkness and brewing in anger, he wanted to find Padme so bad, to make things right again. He was destined to rule the empire, and she to be his queen. Vader went into his chambers and sat on the floor, crossed his legs and start to meditate, but not to find peace but to force there bond back open and to speak to his beloved.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Jared and Padme both returned to there cell uncertain to make of the situation.
"Thank you Jared, for everything." Padme spoke, unsure of what was going to happen to her body guard, no her friend. Jared looked on at Padme and just gave her a small grin. He was frightened that they would do something barbaric to him, that Padme would be left in this hole to fend for her self. Though he had gotten the impression she was rather resilient, he doubted she could last.
"I need to meditate." Jared muttered, it wasn't the face he did not hear her because he did, rather he wanted to calm his nerves and perhaps found a solution to get out of this mess.
"Have you ever meditated before?" He asked.
"Honestly, no I have not." She responded, unsure on where he was going at.
"Then, I guess now would be a perfect time to start." Jared replied, sitting down Padme did the same and mimicked him. He could see she was not used to doing it so he decided to help try and coax her along.
"Close your eyes, and just imagine that there is nothing else in this universe, but me and you. The mines do not exist, the guards are not here, the prisoners are gone. There is nothing but peace." He spoke softly, doing his best to try and help a first timer at meditation. It was something if he was still a Jedi he would be trying to teach his padawan, instead he was teaching a former senator and fellow prisoner. After a few moments he could feel she was at where he described in the process.
"Reach deep into your self, feel around you." He continued, a few moments later the process was confirmed done correctly by appearing on a beach.
He looked in front of him expecting to see Padme, but what he did not expect was to see another man as well, Anakin.
"Padme!" Anakin screamed in delight and ran over.
"Stay away Vader!" She demanded and took a step back, Jared just looked on in shock. Anakin was the dreaded Vader, the same Vader that destroyed the Jedi almost single handedly.
"This is Vader!?" He screamed half in disbelief.
"Jared? Jared Sol? I knew you were with a weak trained force user, but Jared Sol? He's pathetic even for a Jedi." Vader pronounced and could no longer hold his laughter as it echoed towards Jared angering him even more.
"Yes, I agree Vader, I am a horrible, and a weak Jedi. Least I'm human, more human than machine." Jared spoke out, almost completely losing his nerve.
"You know nothing Jared, nothing to the power of the dark side." He pronounced, still not taking his eyes off of Padme. Padme was at a lost of the two men, unable to speak and instead let there arguing continue.
"Ah yes, the wonderful power of the dark side. Tell me Vader, how much of that power did you have to use to kill the younglings?" Vader's face turned red into embarrassment.
"It was a necessary evil, unfortunately." He reluctantly admitted to the atrocities of the accused crime.
"Ah yes, a necessary evil indeed. Perhaps it was the crechlings dazzling display of there lightsabre skills that forced you to slaughter them while they still lied still in there cribs as well?" Jared continued sarcastically.
"Tell me Vader, did the younglings beg for there life? Did they plead for there hero of no fear to save them before being slaughtered? Really, I want to know." Jared continued not allowing Vader to reply, tears were starting to form in Jared's eyes as he remember the time that he spent actually caring for the same younglings that Vader so easily killed.
"Master Skywalker, there's to many of them. What are we going to do?" The words still etched in his mind, right before he beheaded the young child. Now was not the time for regrets, now was the time to convince Padme to join him as his queen.
"Padme, please don't listen to him. Tell me where you are and we can be together again." He pleaded.
"After all this time, after all you have done and you just expect me to forgive and forget?" Her resolve was starting to crack, the past year the anger and sorrow of that day was about to be unleashed.
"What about all the times Ive saved you? I know Ive done somethings that seem horrible, but the great lengths that I went through to protect you has to be worth something." Vader replied, in a half pleading but also half demanding.
"You self righteous, arrogant, shit brained jack ass!" She screamed at him in full force.
"Let me tell you about your so called protection. I was almost raped twice in the past two days, if it wasn't for this so called 'horrible Jedi' I would be dead! Through out the clone wars Vader, I knew no matter what happened that I could always rely on either you or Obi-wan to come save me if things went south." Vader cringed at his former masters name but did not reply towards it, knowingly if he did that it would only anger her more.
"The one thing I never expected Anakin..." Vader's hopes turned up realizing that it was the first time she called him by his old name, which was after all a good thing.
"Was that Obi-wan would have to save me from you." Vader gulped, replaying the moment when he forced choked her, how he wish he could change that.
"I only turned to prevent you from dying, I was scared!" He screamed, his emotions were starting to get the better of the Sith lord.
"Oh my force, how could I have married someone so dumb." Padme rasped out catching Vader off guard.
"I was on my death bed Vader, I was dying just like in your dreadful dreams. On the moment that death was going to overtake me Obi-wan reached in the force and gave me life. You were so happy to go to a Sith lord who wanted anything and everything utterly destroyed that you forgot to ask your own mentor, someone who loved you like a brother."
"You been with him haven't you?" Vader accused, slightly grasping what she just said.
"Oh please..." Padme responded, not even sure if she should dignify a response. Perhaps the truth would be the real eye opener.
"He knew all along Vader, ever since Geonosis he knew that we were in love. He wanted you to confront him about it, you know the whole man to man thing. He surely is one, though I think I learned a little to late that you are incapable of reaching up to that task. Did you know that after the clone wars he was going to turn in his lightsabre?"
"No, I was unaware..." Vader muttered in disbelief.
"Of course you were, all you cared about was yourself. He was madly in love with another knight Anakin, a woman who he called Siri, though I forget her last name. They both decided that they would rather be banned from the order than to be separated from each other. Yoda and Mace practically begged him to stay, at least till the end of the war. They both decided that they would remain Knights to protect the Democracy they both grew to love. The same Democracy you destroyed."
"Theres many things I've come to regret Padme, but Obi-wan is no longer my brother. What ever ties I had to my former mentor died with his betrayal." Vader tried to explain.
"What the hell are you talking about? Has the dark side blinded you completely?" Padme asked lost in her rage.
"He was the one who cursed me in that force forsaken suite!"
"Oh, and I suppose the words 'Anakin Its over, I have the high ground.' ring a bell to you? Thats right Sith, while Obi-wan was fighting to save me from my estranged husband my ship taped the whole duel the two of you had. He told you that because he realized he could never bring himself to kill you, at that moment he decided he was no longer fit to be a Jedi. Sith or not, he could not bring himself to kill his brother. You, but you on the other hand was a different story, you jumped and forced his hand, forced his hand when he was going to leave you be." Vader just reached up and grasped her arms in his hands, even though she could not feel it for it was only a state of the mind she still couldn't move which unsettled her.
"Just tell me where you are!" Vader demanded.
"Get your filthy hands off of me!"
"Let her go!" Jared demanded, deciding that this reunion has gone on for long enough.
"Or what Jared, you going to talk me to death? This is a meditation state, you don't even have the honor of losing your life to me in a duel this way."
"I said let her go!" Jared demanded once more, this time raising his voice even louder.
"Or what!?" Vader screamed
"Or this!" Vader instantly let go and clutched his chest and dropped down on the ground. Padme looked on in shock as she took a few steps back and separated herself from her estranged husband. Vader was on his knees bent over clutching his chest and then bringing his arm close to his sternum as he screamed in pain.
Both Jared and Padme opened there eyes as tears were present in both of there eyes. Padme's was of sorrow, she missed Anakin but have came down to the resolution of the monster that he had become. Jared on the other hand was a mixture of anger and sorrow. He was pissed at Anakin for what he had done but the same time was utterly depressed what happened to the younglings.
"What did you do?" Padme asked in wonder to what he did to Vader before the end of the Meditation.
"During meditation your minds are technically connected, it makes it incredibly easy to send a memory to another though almost impossible to take it forcefully. I sent him a memory of my most painful moment, in which he felt in full force as if it just happened to him."
"What memory of pain did you send him?" Padme ask, not expecting to see a hurt expression on his face.
"Anara died because of a blaster shot to the heart, we had an incredibly powerful force bond. I not only felt the sorrow of my love dying, I also felt the shot as if it was I who got shot. Moments later my arm broke as well, It was by far the worst moment of my life."