Blinded By Love

By Serena

A/N: OK, I'm going to give you a heads-up - I'm not going to be able to update as often as I'd like for any of my stories because I'll be loaded to the top with schoolwork. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this - and believe me, I'll try to update any chance I get. Hope you understand.


Naboo was so beautiful. So lush, green, and warm. I inhaled the sweet, fresh scent of foliage and flowers around me as I leaned against the stone terrace railing - the one that overlooked green-colored peaks and glittering gray-green water. The air was moist and pleasant, laced with mist right after a summer rain. I could feel the tiny water particles tickle my skin, causing delicious shivers to run up my spine.

Oh, I loved it here. Everything was so cool... so new and full of life. I could stay forever here.

"You always did love the water."

I turned instinctively to see Anakin himself standing a few yards away. He wore dark colored robes, and his hands were folded behind his back. His gaze swept over me, then returned to my face. Why were his eyes so searching? It was as if he hadn't seen me in years...

"Yes," I said softly, smiling at him. "I did. And still do." I inhaled again and sighed with pleasure. "There's something so peaceful about rain and water. When I was a girl, I would stare out my window on rainy days, wishing I could be one of the rain drops that danced onto the ground. I tried to run out, but my parents always stopped me. Couldn't have me getting sick."

"Your parents aren't here now," Anakin said, drawing closer. "And it looks like it might rain again."

I glanced up at the cloudy sky. "Yes, it might. I'd love that. I love watching it rain. It doesn't rain that much on Coruscant - one thing I missed about my old home."

"I missed you."

I smiled at the longing in his voice. "I missed you, too. I always miss you."

He came ever closer, hesitantly reached out with both hands. When my hands came up to rest on his shoulders, his slipped around my waist, drawing me even nearer to him. I wound my arms around his neck and gazed up at him.

"Well, I'm here now. We're both here - together." I pressed my hand against his cheek. "That's all that matters."

"Yes." His voice was tight, almost as if he didn't believe it himself.

I wasn't fooled. We'd been married too long, known each other too long for me not to notice that something was bothering him. I only had to look in his eyes to know. Right now, they were stormy, billowing with many emotions, some which I didn't quite catch. But why was he so troubled? I searched his face, memorizing each detail. "Anakin," I said, "you can't lie - at least, not to me. Your face tells me everything... especially your eyes."

His gaze softened - but only slightly. "You know me that well?"

"Of course I do. I see you and I know what you're feeling. Your eyes are conflicted, upset."

Those eyes penetrated me, piercing me. "Yes. You see right through me, Padme. You always did."

"I have the gift of good vision, Anakin..." I trailed off and suddenly frowned. "Vision..." I blinked as flashes of blackness covered my eyesight, and I gasped. Anakin's hands tightened on me.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I don't... how can I be seeing?" I whispered. "I haven't seen in so long... This - this is..."

"This is a dream, Padme. You're dreaming."

"Since when do dreams tell me that I'm dreaming?" I demanded, glancing up at him sharply.

His lips pressed together in a tight line, and his hands gripped my waist almost painfully. "Since now."

"No." I tried to pull away. "Something isn't right. If this is a dream, I want to wake up." I closed my eyes and tried to wake up, but it didn't work.

"No!" Anakin snarled, shaking me back into the dream-world. "You will not!"

I opened my eyes and saw the sky growing darker, the clouds crowding close together. The gentle breeze picked up to a stormy wind, and a distant rumble grew louder. Thunder roared and crashed in my ears, and the winds swept up wildly, causing my hair to billow into my face. Lightning flashed across the sky, ripping it in two. In that second, the lightning illuminated Anakin's face... and I felt my heart freeze in my chest.

His face, once kind and loving, was twisted into an ugly, terrifying snarl. And his beautiful stormy blue eyes - eyes that used to burn with passion and love for me - were now overwhelmed with the hideous fire of yellow and crimson. They looked almost bloodshot, fuming with rage, hatred, and darkness. I thought I might die from all the hate in those eyes.

This.... this was not Anakin Skywalker.

This man... did not even look human.

This man... was a monster.


"Anakin!" I gasped, my eyes flying open. All I saw was darkness, a muddy darkness. I could see a little bit of light, but that was it. Panting for breath, I leaned over and put my head in my hands, shaking. My mind instantly ran over the last thing I saw. That dream I had... was more real and vivid than anything I'd ever experienced. While I desperately wanted to believe that the dream had just been a dream, I'd lived long enough and seen enough to know that what I'd just seen was no ordinary dream.

Still breathing heavily, I slowly leaned my head back on the pillow and stared sightlessly up at the ceiling. My hands curled into the cold, med-center standard, starchy blankets. Everything was happening so fast, I thought. First, that incident with Ty. Speaking of which - where was he? I hadn't seen or heard from him since I'd passed out in front of Luke. I hoped he was all right - and I wanted to see him and the others again, thank them for everything they'd done for me. I wanted to repay them somehow, try to make it up to them, but I had no idea where they were. Come to think of it, I honestly had no idea where I was, either. I was in a medical center, but where I didn't know. But Luke and Leia had entrusted me to the doctors here, so I would trust them.

As I started to think about my children, my thoughts ran back to their father... and therefore, the dream I'd just had about him. Something wasn't right. I'd felt it ever since the incident with Ty. I shuddered as I remembered him choking under Darth Vader's hold. But why had Vader done that in the first place? And why pick me up? I frowned and closed my eyes, letting out a long, frustrating sigh. The entire situation was so bewildering, so completely strange and off-kilter. So many things didn't make sense.

What did Vader have to do with anything? And why did I have that disturbing dream of Anakin - a dream so real that I thought it was real? Anakin used to dream of his mother, then me - and both of those dreams had come true - well, for the most part. Was the Force trying to tell me something? Something I wasn't understanding?

But when I heard harsh, rasping breathing somewhere in my room, something happened.

I saw Anakin's face... his dark, furious face - one that I didn't even recognize. I saw him holding out his hand to me, sucking the very air out of my lungs.

I heard Ty gasping for breath and imagined Vader's hand stretching out to him.

My eyes snapped open.

"It's been a long time, Anakin."

The raspy breath halted momentarily before resuming its pace, albeit more ragged. "How..." the deep, mechanized voice spoke.

"It wasn't hard." My throat welled up painfully, but I tried to swallow. It didn't work. "You all but gave yourself away in that... dream."

He didn't respond.

"Having fun messing with my mind?" I demanded bitterly. "Are you so twisted and evil that you have to turn even my dreams upside down?"

"Padme, I did not..." He halted, making a frustrated sound. "I was only trying to communicate with you."

"Well, congratulations. You did just that."

"I didn't mean for it to come to that," he insisted. I heard his footsteps coming closer, and his breathing grew louder as he approached me.

I ground my teeth, not in the mood for his excuses. "Spare me," I bit back acidly. "You didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, and they did. Because of you."

"Hurting you was not my intent," he protested, but I heard the anger growing in his changed voice.

"And look how that turned out."

"Padme! What was I supposed to think?" he demanded. He was now right by my bedside. "You had brought along Kenobi!"

"I didn't. He stowed away," I said levelly. "Good thing he did, or I might not be alive right now, having this lovely reunion with you." I couldn't help the resentment and sarcasm from coming out of me. Bitterness helped to deal with crushing pain that threatened to suck the very life out of my heart and soul. I was dealing with my pain the only way I could right now.

Anakin... or Vader took my hand. I flinched and pulled away from the cold leather glove. I knew only wires and metal were beneath it.

"Padme," Vader said heavily, "All of this... everything I've done... it was all for you."

"That's bull," I snapped. "I absolutely hate when people do evil things in the name of someone else - especially someone they claim to care about. If you really loved me, Anakin, we wouldn't be here right now, and your kriffing Empire wouldn't exist."

"I did love you," he growled. "I never stopped loving you. If you hadn't betrayed me, the situation wouldn't have escalated the way it did."

"Oh, right, so it's all my fault you strangled me half to death while I was pregnant, mind you, with our children."

He paused. "Our children?"

"Yes," I hissed. "Children. I was pregnant with twins."

"So... Luke has a twin?"

Luke? Oh, Force, he knew about Luke? Well, of course he did, I reasoned. Luke had kept Anakin's name. Of course Anakin would know Luke was his son. The question was... did Luke know that Vader was his father? Was that what Luke had been hiding from me yesterday? And did Leia know?

I pushed those questions to the back of my mind and put several things together: Judging from his behavior when mentioning Anakin, Luke did know that Vader was his father. Anakin knew that Luke was his son... but apparently, not about Leia. And if Luke knew about Vader, I could only assume that Leia knew as well.

Oh, this was a tangled, twisted web of lies, secrets long thought buried, and deception. I wasn't sure how to approach this - I'd have to think about it carefully, like I would before debating a bill before the senate.

But the senate had been ages ago...

Inhaling, I made a decision which I knew might have severe consequences one day: "Had," I rasped. "He had a twin."

"Had?" My heart almost cracked at the pain in his voice. "You mean..."

"She died," I said quietly. "Right before I was put into carbonite."

"Carbonite?" Vader demanded. "Why were you put into carbonite?"

"I was dying," I said. His breathing halted again for a second. "It was the only way they could save me. I was in carbon stasis for over twenty years. I was only awoken several months ago." My voice was growing more raspy, and my throat was clenching painfully. I didn't know how long I could hold the tears back... but I did not want Vader to see me cry. Whether it was because of embarrassment or a strange sense of pride, I wasn't sure.

"Padme." A slight shadow came over my face, and I felt his gloved fingers touch my hair. I turned my head away. "Padme, you must believe me. The only thing I ever wanted was you at my side. You, me... our children." His voice grew quieter. I heard the sound of leather crinkling and knew he was clenching his fists. "I never wanted this."

"Well, it's too late now," I said softly. "You're a Sith, our family is separated, and I'm blind."

"No!" he snarled. "We are together now. Padme, listen to me." He took my hand and gripped it in his massive one. "Luke is here. You have reunited. He knows I am his father. We will be a family again, just like we were meant to be."

I faced him now. "Really? You think your precious Emperor will let that happen? Oh, wait, that's right," I said with a humorless snort. "You're going to kill him and take his place, and Luke will be your new apprentice and the second Sith. Oddly enough, I don't particularly like that scenario."

Vader growled in frustration and clasped my hand tighter. "I will not let you go again, Padme," he snarled. "I thought you were dead for over twenty long, miserable years. I didn't even know I had a son until almost a year ago. And now you are alive. We'll find a way to bring your sight back, and you and Luke will join me."

I waited for a moment before murmuring: "No."

"Padme..." Vader started, his tone carrying a warning. I could feel him drawing closer to me.

"What are you doing?" a new voice demanded furiously. I knew without a doubt that it was Leia. Feet stormed into the room, and she cried: "Get your hands off her!"

Vader straightened and released me. "This is none of your concern, Your Highness. Leave before I ignore the terms of this planet's arrangement and arrest you," he thundered.

I slowly sat up in my bed and glared up at the spot I knew he was. "No," I repeated. When he turned to me, I said icily: "You've done enough damage for one day, Vader. You can go. And that's not a suggestion."

Vader let out a long growl, but after a tense minute, he hissed: "This is not over." And he strode out of the room.

Immediately, Leia rushed to my bedside and hugged me tightly. "Are you all right, Mom?" she whispered frantically. "What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"

I placed my hand on her cheek and stroked her hair. I had thought earlier that I would've been crying by now... but strangely enough, no tears were in my eyes. I knew that they would undoubtedly come later, but for now, my eyes were dry.

"Leia," I said wearily, "Vader has been hurting me for years. And still... I will love your father until the day I die."

"How?" she asked in a small voice. "How can you love him after everything that he's done? How can you be so strong?"

"You can't help who you love, Leia," I told her with a sad smile. "But the man I loved was lost the day Darth Vader came into being." I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You just have to keep going. That's all anyone can do."

Leia hugged me again. "I won't let him hurt you anymore, Mom," she promised fiercely. "He won't get near you."

I sighed. "Leia... the truth is... he will never stop hurting me until Darth Vader is gone."


TBC...


Yes, so that was the major reunion. We've still got a ton of problems ahead.

Take care, luvs!

- Serena