Disclaimer:

I do not own any rights to Star Wars. This is merely fan fiction by a fan and not someone even remotely involved in any Marvel or Lucas Film property. That being said I do hope you enjoy it.

Padme walked mindlessly through the personalised garden, she had to admit while she certainly didn't respect the Hutts for being heartless slavers and pirates she certainly could appreciate the rare flora that they had access to. She supposed crime did pay as she lost herself looking over at a particular tree that had leaves that were every colour of the rainbow.

This place was perhaps the only peaceful place on this awful ship and was probably the only place she wouldn't be bothered by following senators. They were too busy getting high and sleeping with Grakkus' prostitutes to appreciate the beauty of something that doesn't have an alcohol percentage.

Being a senator wasn't supposed to be this… awful, was it? Palpatine was the senator before her before he was voted into the chancellor position after the whole invasion incident of Naboo a few years ago. Maybe she should get in contact with him to find out how he dealt with the corruption. The man seemed to be rather kind and genuine, probably one of the very few Republic senators who wasn't corrupt in some sort of way.

Letting out a tired sigh she continued her journey through the garden, she shouldn't complain too much. She after all did volunteer for this opportunity, the thought of making alliances with some of the outer rim planets which had yet to officially join the Republic was too appealing. Naboo being a planet near the border of the outer rim would mean if she could start issuing trade deals from the core to the outer rim then she would cement herself into the Republic. Others had told her to wait, that she was still young and had time to make big changes, now she couldn't help but think that maybe she should have slowed down a little.

"You look like you could use an aspirin." A rather smooth voice spoke behind her.

Turning around Padme was greeted by the sight of an older gentleman dressed in exquisitely black clothing. Senators often wore long garments reminiscent of their past back when men wore white gowns before the ages of interspace travel except now they were often bejeweled and were a sign of wealth rather then intelligence.

Dooku never looked like one to wear such garments though, despite being royalty like herself he looked more like a bachelor than some politician. He wore high-quality brands of clothing and were accessories that shone in the fake sunlight of the garden.

If Padme was being honest she thought he looked rather attractive, the definition of a silver fox. Now that he wasn't using some sort of space magic to choke someone he seemed rather pleasant and calm, although after last night's demonstration that was clearly a farse that she wouldn't believe.

"Dooku," Padme openly scowled.

"Please, Miss Amidala, let's not start this conversation with insults and petty jabs. If I had wanted to be insulted I would seek worse company than yourself. Which, unfortunately, is easier than it seems on this ship."

Padme couldn't help but agree, this whole ship was filled with Hutt, independent and republic figureheads. This ship was big but even the whole galaxy isn't large enough to fit the ego of pretentious rich arseholes who just want power.

"And how would I know you wouldn't use your space magic on me." Padme glared, the image of the alien choking to near death by invisible hands had burned into her mind. How does one even stop that?

"Magic," Dooku scoffed. "The Force is not magic, the same way gravity isn't. A fact of life you don't understand isn't magic, just ignorance."

"That doesn't change the fact that I don't feel safe in your presence Dooku."

"Ah, but I have something that might change your mind." The Count reached into his pocket and fished out a small container of Aspirin which he offered to Padme who rather begrudgingly took it. If he wanted to kill her he wouldn't need to poison her.

"If it wasn't for the threat of overdosing I would be eating these like sweets. I believe I'm the sole reason that the pharmacy near my castle is able to afford a yacht."

"Thank you, my head is killing me. I'm starting to see the upside in lobotomy with how much my head is hurting."

"Yes, alcohol can be quite the alluring poison. Unfortunately with the company we keep, I find myself to be drinking more and more. " Once again Padme found herself agreeing with Dooku, he certainly liked to hear himself talk but she herself was familiar with finding more and more alcohol in her hand.

"Speaking of which, you and Vader? You two were quite inseparable from what I recall last night."

Padme looked away as her cheeks burnt from embarrassment. She couldn't remember the night but she did remember the morning with Vader's rather shirtless form sleeping beside her. She was so screwed, the rumour mill will go wild with talk despite the fact she didn't even do anything with the alcohol ex-Jedi.

"Please don't remind me. I thought the Jedi were supposed to abstain from any sort of vices like alcohol, drugs and sex. Clearly, he didn't get the memo."

"No, Jedi can drink and take any drugs as long as it's legal. They can even have sex despite most people thinking that they are an order of celibate monks. The doctrine states that attachment is forbidden so long as it influences their judgment. Meaningless sex, while looked down upon in the order is not forbidden. Just don't flaunt your 'conquests' and no one will really mind."

"Truthfully, I suppose I don't know much about the Jedi. Besides them being peacekeepers of the galaxy I truthfully don't know much about the order." Dooku gave a disapproving hum at her answer as if what she said was some sort of insult directed at him.

"Peacekeepers," Dooku rolled his eyes. "The Jedi are no longer what they used to be, what they are now is the whole reason I left the order. They forbid attachment for fear of unjust influence yet sit ideally by as the government abuses its citizens. They have become dogs of the Republic."

"Careful Dooku, I am part of the Republic."

"Then you know what I am talking about."

The two walked in silence after that through the garden. Dooku no doubt wanted her to think about the sins of the Republic, yet despite that her thought never strayed far from the Jedi… no that wasn't quite right, rather she couldn't get Vader out of her head. The annoying ex-Jedi had cemented himself in her mind, the sight of her waking up next to him appeared more and more in her head. The way his chest heaved up and down, and more so how his back was more scarred than normal flesh.

"The Jedi. You left cause of their affiliation with the Republic, was there any other reason?"

"The Jedi have many flaws, to go through them all would take more time than I have left in my life."

"What about the way they treat children? You are indoctrinated as kids, right? Warrior monks must treat the kids quite roughly." The thought of Vader's first reaction to being awoken was to murder her came to mind.

Vader was quite young, he was probably two or three years younger than herself. Padme had never really seen any of the children the Jedi Order had no doubt keeping the kids out of the public view similar to Padme's own childhood. But if they were sheltered inside their order then Vader having so many scars while he was so young meant it must have come from the Order itself. Sick bastards. Vader was a scumbag but if he was abused then it made sense for his unsurprising reliance on drugs and alcohol.

"The rumours of how the Jedi treat the younglins are unfounded. I hate the Jedi but the tales of them stealing kids is a lie. Parents are quite eager for their kids to be Jedi, it guarantees them a future and while Jedi aren't so much paid they are often treated to a life of respect and high-class activities from wealthy benefactors who seek Jedi approval." Dooku actually seemed offended at her line of questioning. Padme knew she should stop but she couldn't stop thinking about the canvas of scars that Vader had on his back.

"Do they hit the kids a lot?"

Dooku actually stopped walking. For the second time on this ship, she had seen the Count with a look of actual rage, for a split second she could have sworn his eyes actually turned yellow.

"I am no fan of the Jedi but I myself was one. To accuse me of ever hitting a child is beyond disgusting and I will not tolerate such a foul insult."

"No! Please wait… It's just that, Vader. I noticed he has quite a bit of scars on his body, I was just concerned that it was the reason he left the order. As a senator of the Republic to have an order that abuses children would be something I couldn't let stand." She never got the chance to further elaborate before Dooku walked up to her with actual fury in his eyes.

"The Jedi train the younglins for combat yes, do they get scars? Also yes, that much is inevitable. However, the order is not some abusive orphanage, and even the Jedi would not stoop so low as child abuse." With that Dooku turned on a dime walking off in a controlled angered march towards whatever victim would be unlucky to get in his way as he made his way through the ship.

Padme was stunned. She was such an idiot! Why did she think it was a smart idea to accuse an ex-Jedi of child abuse?! But… she knew what she saw, those scars on the back weren't from some training exercise. There were too many, and there was such a large concentration on certain parts of his body. Someone scared Vader and while the Order isn't responsible it may still have been a Jedi.

ARGH! Why did she even care? Vader sucked! He was the worst person on this ship! She should have just ignored the stupid boy and focused on keeping to politics, maybe then she could have befriended Count Dooku and maybe earned an alliance. Now that Serreno has left the Republic under Dooku's orders she could have still negotiated some trade deals! Damnit Vader! This was all his fault. Him and his stupid shirtless body that she couldn't stop thinking about.

Anakin prayed to the Whills he hated so very much for putting him in this time loop for some sort of relief. More and more vomit was expelled from the mouth in a rather acidic-tasting wave of liquid. Thankfully he hadn't been eating much so it was quite easy to throw up.

"Okay… it's official, I need to put some effort this run into learning some toxin resistance techniques." Jedi using the force were capable of some remarkable feats, they could enhance their own healing, physical abilities and more importantly to Anakin, resistance to harmful substances. He couldn't end his holiday loop early due to his organs shutting down.

He gave one last solitary spit before getting up from his knees. Anakin had tons of drugs in his bathroom but nothing that would cure a headache, his only real saving grace was the strawberry-flavoured mouthwash he rinsed over and over again to try to get the taste of his stomach out of his mouth.

Squinting his eyes he made out that he had slept through a good amount of the day. Since spaceships didn't rotate like planets there was no concept of day or night so ships would often run on an individual twenty-four-hour time so they had some concept of time.

"Shit, it's already two in the afternoon," Anakin swore. The Hutt wouldn't be happy with him, he could probably come up with some elaborate lie. Surely there was some scummy politician he could get to vouche for him protecting them the whole day rather then actually do his security duties.

Anakin threw on some clothes that didn't have his vomit currently on it and ran outside only to collapse against the wall opposite his room. Okay, that was too much movement at once for a very hung over Anakin. This might take awhile.

"You're late. I called you to the bridge at eight o'clock, yet only now you show up at three. That's seven hours, I would have sent a droid to fetch you but I was worried that you by some miracle would have given whatever I sent you." Grakkus sneered looking over Anakin in his hung-over state.

Anakin collapsed in one of the chairs on the bridge immediately letting his head fall into his hands to nurse his killer headache.

"Droids can't get STDs." Besides he didn't have any STDs, he was clean. Anakin always used correct protection, you can't have too many extremely powerful force-sensitive kiddos running around for Palpatine to recruit and use against him. Would it have been smarter just to give up sex entirely? Probably, but why even waste time considering the impossible?

"I'm sure you'd find a way." Grakkus narrowed his eyes. "You're lucky I have rather pressing concerns or you'd be out of a job and ejected out of the airlock."

"Aw, have I not been annoying enough," Anakin smirked, though that small bit of entertainment quickly turned to pain as Grakkus pressed down on the shock collar remote sending electric shocks through his whole body.

"Do not push me boy." The Hutt looked down on Anakin, his towering mass could crush the young Jedi if the slug simply fell down on top of him. "There was a murder done today, I want you to use your magic to figure it out. Padme has been kind enough to offer her services."

"Padme? No thanks, having a potential suspect would ruin the investigation. Why else would a senator offer help for a murder case? She probably did it. Besides I don't like her."

"I know. That's why I'm doing it e chu ta. " Grakkus sneered, ' e chu ta' a Huttese insult, usually it was rather pointless to insult someone in a language they didn't understand but the way he venomously spat the word made it clear what it meant.

The Hutt turned to Padme taking his eyes off Anakin who stuck up a certain finger behind his back. "I hope you know what you are doing Miss Armidala, and If I do find out you are the murder… well, just hope I don't."

"I want what's best for everyone, you think I want a murder on board with me?"

"I 'think' you have a poor sense of judgement given your choice of company." Grakkus eyes flicked to Anakin. Rude. "But alas my personal Jedi is a drunk and I won't say no to a nurse I don't have to pay."

With a wave of his hand, Grakkus dismissed the two of us. "Go get the boy out of my sight. His presence alone is raising the blood alcohol of everyone in the room."

"We'll get out of your… um, hair." Padme said staring a little too long at Grakkus' baldness. Anakin would have laughed but every time he opened his mouth he felt like he was risking emptying his stomach. Yup, he officially had too much.

"Bye Grakkus! Won't disappoint you."

"I doubt that."

Padme grabbed Anakin's hand and pulled him out of the bridge. Oh, Whills he felt awful, her rapid pace which in reality was just a brisk walk felt like he was being thrown around by a rancor.

Eventually, they did make it to their destination. It was remarkably not bloody for murder, in fact the first thing Anakin noticed was that despite being a murder scene there was nobody at all. They were in some sort of engineering bay, most likely a place to fix the droid servants of the ship.

Anakin tried to open his mouth but he was ushered into a chair by Padme, rather forcefully. The Senator walked behind him and as confused he let her sit down on the table behind him as she picked up several different tools.

"So, where is the dead body?" Anakin finally asked a little confused by the situation.

Padme didn't answer him, instead, she grabbed his collar and pulled it further down as she tried to get a better look at the collar around his neck. Anakin didn't bother speaking as Padme rearranged his head as she tried her best to look at the collar, it felt nice to feel her touch him. Her hands worked their way around his jaw as she tried looking at the collar at different angles with very little success.

It was only when Anakin grabbed her hands did she stopped. He leaned back in his chair so the back of it hit the table between her legs allowing the boy to look up at the Senator. She looked frustrated, annoyed and worst of all she looked at him with something he had seen over and over again. Pity.

"What are you doing Padme?" He asked tiredly. He was so sick of pity, why couldn't she go back to that look of hatred she had before when she saw him?

"Getting this stupid collar off." She huffed pulling her hands out of his. He missed their warmth but once again her hands were on his face as she tried to yank his head out of the way as so she could get a better look at his slave collar.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why? Isn't there more pressing concerns at the moment?"

"Of course not!" She hissed, despite her venomous attitude there was some small part of Anakin that felt a little relieved. "The dead body isn't going anywhere we can investigate after I get this stupid thing off."

"It's not coming off."

"Of course it is! Grakkus the arsehole can just put up with it, I'm not going to have-"

"Padme," Anakin sighed. "It's not coming off."

She didn't listen though instead started to just jam tools into the collar miserably failing to break open the latch. Padme was amazing at many things but she was never quite so gifted in electronics.

Anakin leaned forward causing him to fall out of Padme's hands. She tried to pull him back but she found her hands stopped by an invisible wall. Anakin reached out into the force, using it to grab a small mirror and the tools from Padme's hands.

It was rather difficult, Anakin had always had problems with the controlled use of the Force especially so early on in the loops. He was loved by the force, and as such he could progress at a rate unmatched by any other. What would take a decade for an average Jedi he could achieve in a year, was certainly a helpful ability in his war against Palpatine allowing him to match the Sith lord in power in a decade. But it meant that while he could learn powerful aspects of the force quickly he often skipped out on the small stuff.

A youngling must be chosen to become a padawan by the age of thirteen or else they are put into the Service Corp. From thirteen to mid-twenties they are padawans till they eventually become knighted. Yet despite being only seventeen Anakin was definitely in the upper echelons of padawans in terms of combat. A small mercy of being sent back to his seventeen-year-old body rather than his birth, he couldn't stand repeating breastfeeding over and over again.

The point was Anakin was quite capable combat-wise, being considered a powerful padawan at such a young age. Yet, he had such little time to learn the finer aspects of the force which meant he struggled to maneuver the small tools and mirror around him. Still, he noticed in the reflection of the mirror Padme was watching in awe as seemingly the very universe was bending to his will.

It would have been cute if Anakin wasn't dealing with a migraine right now trying to use the delicate tools on his collar whilst trying to recover from a hangover.

"Look here, these slave collars are made with a powerful battery to shock the user. The collar actually acts as an insulator for the battery as the sheer output would shock a slave into unconsciousness instantly from pain." Anakin explains as he carefully worked the tools to expose the wiring of the collar.

"This was intentional as the remote controls how much insulation is being used. The more the less the shock, this means that if a slave ever broke the collar or tried to unarm it which I am being very careful not to do. It would allow the full output of the battery to be unleashed immediately. Trying to disarm it would just make it go off automatically at full output."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, well. Slave collars aren't built to be taken off. I should be glad Grakkus gave me a fresh one, I've seen one of these malfunction. It's not fatal, not even a slaver wants a dead slave. It's not pretty though. Flesh melts, clothing catches fire, muscles completely paralysed."

Anakin willed the tools and the mirror back on the desk putting the collar back together so Grakkus wouldn't know he was playing with it. That wouldn't be pretty. Anakin once again leaned back letting his chair his the table Padme sat on so he could look at her once again.

"Besides even if I did disable the collar, Grakkus tests the thing when he feels bored. When he realises it's not working then he would just fetch a new one."

"That's horrible."

"Eh. It's business." It certainly wasn't the worst thing a Hutt had done to him and at least he was being compensated.

"It's slavery."

"So?" Anakin raised a brow. "Look at every civilisation, they are all made on top of the graves of slaves. The Republic do it, the Hutts do it, and so far the only people that haven't yet is the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems. Even then they will do it eventually. That's the thing with slavery, it's easy."

"The Republic grew out of it."

"You got better at hiding it, calling it different names and giving some benefits. By the laws you create, it's technically not slavery. There are still a few planets that still believe in forced marriage and there are several Republic companies that used dept bondage or unfair working agreements in order to have cheap labour."

Padme scowled and pushed Anakin's seat away from her. He knew it was coming, that tug from the force warned him but he would let her have this.

"I'm working on it. Why do you think I became a Senator? Naboo was exploited by the Trade Federation to try to gain plasma as so they could win over more planets when they finally broke away from the Republic and made the CIS. The Republic is pretending to be sympathetic to Naboo as we were left alone to deal with the Trade Federation but beyond closed doors, they blame the creation of the CIS on us. As If us fighting back was the reason the CIS was created."

It made sense. The loss of the Banking Clans was a huge loss to the Republic's economy, the reality of the situation was that Naboo promoted Palpatine to chancellor somewhat out of pity and also because Palpatine promised a more aggressive Republic to stand against the CIS threat.

"So you want to look good so people don't hate Naboo. How heroic." Anakin rolled his eyes.

"I don't want what happened to Naboo to happen to anyone else. Not all of us are selfish bastards only looking out for ourselves." With that she stood up and marched away.

He knew, he even had the shame too look down at the ground. But he had seen her march off before calling him far worse than a bastard and die to Palpatine. This loop wouldn't be the last time she died and she would probably die in the loops to come. Anakin will be the one to free the Galaxy, the certainty of immortality assured that. He would free the Galaxy from Palpatine. Just… not now, not this loop. He was a selfish bastard but he was tired, he was exhausted and for now he will be selfish.

A/N:

If you haven't figured it out this story will never be about Anakin reaching his full potential, he will never be up against an army and come out on top shirtless covered in women. Anakin is the strongest mortal in the galaxy and I can't think of anything worse than writing "This person is strong, but my main character is stronger so I win."

No, Anakin won't be weak, but that is never the intention of this story. He will be strong but Palpatine was never about strength and to beat him Anakin won't be either.