A/N: LVB posting here. Just like to say that neither KD Skywalker nor I ever hold chapters ransom for reviews. That's not what we're about. We apologise if this is the impression anyone has received. Our cajoling is in good humour. Enjoy the chapter :)

LVB & KD Skywalker

Chapter Six

Padmé groaned as she opened her eyes. She was met with blackness that frightened even the bold Senator she knew was still inside her somewhere. Shivering, she tried to register where she was. She suddenly remembered. Letting her eyes adjust, she felt her way around the room.

She was being held in one of the storage rooms on Palpatine's personal ship. Not being one for accepting defeat, Padmé stood up.

There has to be a light switch somewhere here…she thought.

As if on cue, the room lit up, forcing Padmé to shield her eyes. Before her eyes had even adjusted, a chill went up her spine. Palpatine had returned.

"Nice to see you are awake again, Padmé,"

Taking a moment to regain her strength, she scoffed.

"That's Senator Amidala to you, Chancellor!" she shouted at him, taking in once again his twisted appearance.

"No time for semantics, Mrs. Skywalker," Sidious quipped, watching the colour drain out of Padmé's face once again.

"I'll ask you again, Palpatine. What do you want with me and my children? We are of no use to you!" Padmé was relying on those basic diplomatic skills she had learned all those years ago.

She paused to study his reaction. There was nothing; no sense of compassion or remorse. How could she have been fooled by him for over ten years?

"You have your apprentice, Sidious. You've proven to me that my husband has turned to the Dark Side. He has sworn himself to you and the Sith teachings. Don't you understand? You have won! You have Anakin…please, let me and my children go. He will be more powerful if we are kept alive!"

Padmé spoke with her senator façade on yet again, yet underneath she was trembling. What if it didn't work? It was true after all. Anakin had turned…he had nearly killed her and the children himself.

For a moment, she thought Palpatine was actually going to consider what she had said. She was wrong.

"You are right about one thing, Senator. I HAVE WON!" he screamed, and reached out with both hands. The electric blue lightning struck Padmé with such ferocity that her body hit the wall.

Padmé screamed in agony as the lightning kept striking her body, her hands protectively covering her large stomach. However, it wasn't Sidious' intention to kill her or the children.

Pausing for a moment, he walked over to where Padmé was courageously sitting up.

"You will not kill me this way," she seethed.

"That wasn't my intention. You are not my enemy, Padmé. You are a tool," He grinned evilly, as he felt through his connection to the Force what was about to occur.

Padmé screamed, clutching her stomach in pain.

Touching her back, Sidious laughed again.

"And so will your children as soon as they arrive,"

Fear struck Padmé's heart. He had done this on purpose. He spun around and fixed his cape to cover his head again. As he left the room, she heard him mutter to the stormtrooper standing beside her door.

"Go and get the medical team. Senator Amidala is in labour."

Storming into his private room on the ship, Sidious used the Force to shake the entire room. He felt the rage pulsate through his body and through the Dark Side. He had sped things along as it was needed.

He had felt a great disturbance in the Force not long ago. It concerned him greatly. He could feel his apprentice's confusion. He had destroyed the Separatist leaders on Mustafar; this he was sure of.

Sidious had just assumed that Vader had destroyed Kenobi as well. He felt Vader's presence clearly; he was not dead. Yet something was different…it was unnerving. Smashing his chair, he realised what it was.

Vader was slowly returning to the Light again. His plan had backfired. But perhaps this would work in his favour. Padmé still believed her husband was a servant of the Dark Side.

And in a few short hours, he would have all the leverage he needed against his apprentice and the remaining Jedi.

Soon he would have the Skywalker twins…