What if Padmé didn't follow Anakin to Mustafar, but stayed on Coruscant instead? Hoping that Obi-Wan Kenobi, their mutual friend could bring her beloved husband back to her, the senator from Naboo waits at home on Coruscant. Unaware of the battle on Mustafar, she gives birth to her Children on the Tantive IV before Obi-Wan returns and tells her of Anakins fate. Later, news of her husbands survival emerges. Against all advice, Padmé decides to return to Coruscant for one last time to see her husband...

The settling dusk on Coruscant always was something special. There was something charming about seeing the lights of the skyscrapers shining through the night of the bustling city that never really slept. Life pulsated at all times, so much that one might think the planet itself was a living being. Its inhabitants the beating heart.

When she first came here many years ago, the planet had completely captivated her. Back then, when she was still young and inexperienced. After all those decades it seemed as if Coruscant had never really changed. As if it was untouched by the ravages of time. But on the inside it was different. The Core World was rotten from corruption and now the seat of the Galactic Empire. Palpatines new Order, which he had justified with the desire of security and stability. The Jedi had fallen. They were now traitors and enemies of the Republic. Outlaws.

Thousands had fallen for these and many other lies. Senators, even the Jedi. She and Anakin.

'Anakin.'

Her stomach tightened with the thought about her husband. In the evening the Senate looked ominous. The rumbling Thunder from the ongoing storm made the transporter shake and vibrate. She gripped her hand tighter around her seat and tried to relax.

It was completely impossible.

In view of everything that happened, she didn't know if she would ever be able to feel anything like inner peace and calm again. But she had to. For the sake of here children. The twins needed their mother. Without her, they would grow up into a world whose constructs and dogmas they did not understand.

'Luke...Leia...'

When she first found out she was pregnant, she was scared. There was one she could ask for help. She was married to a Jedi Knight. A secret that no one could ever find out about.

Anakin was able to ease her fear for a while. For a moment, she was tempted to believe that everything would work out and that she could be happy with her family.

That was until Anakins nightmares began.

She still could remember how he dreamed of his mother. How he screamed, pleaded and whimpered at night. She had tried everything to convince him that it wouldn't come true. That everything would be alright. By then, she had no idea to what extent her husband had already been manipulated by Palpatine. Slowly and steadily, he had changed. His fear, his ambition and his pride has transformed him into something else.

'Darth Vader.'

Obi-Wan had said that this was his name now. That he was the one responsible for the deaths of the Jedi. She hadn't wanted to believe him. The pain would've been too great if she accepted this truth.

Then she had told him, where Kenobi could find him. Why? She had hoped that Anakins master and friend might still be able to get though to him. That he could save him. She would have sacrificed everything for him to return to her. It was the naive dream of a young woman. Nothing more.

When Kenobi returned and told her about the outcome of the Mustafar confrontation, she broke. She wanted to give up. For a moment id had been tempting to let go just to stop the pain. In the end she choose to live.

Her twins were now a few days old. She was still struggling with what to do. She wanted to rais them both in the lake country, but Bail and Obi-Wan thought it was too dangerous. They would separate them. Her little innocent babies. Luke would go to Tatooine, where he would grow up with his aunt and uncle Beru and Owen. Leia would stay on Alderaan with her and the Organas.

She had accepted it, just as she had accepted that her husband was now gone forever. Or so she thought. It was then when a radio message had been intercepted.

The Emperor had traveled to Mustafar.

Intuitively she knew, that could only mean one thing:

He was alive. Anakin was alive.

Against all advice she had to go to Coruscant. She couldn't help it. Sha had to see with her own eyes what had become of him. Only then, she hoped, it would be easier for her to say goodbye to her past life.

In her hands she held the necklace he had carved for her when he was a boy. Back then, when there had been no war. A time she longed to return to.

'There are things you can't fix.'

Her own words echoed in her memories. She said that to him after Anakins mother died. Life moved forward with no regard for feelings. It destroyed dreams, extinguished hopes and demanded everything from you if it wanted to. In it randomness, you could never know what it intended to do next.

"Welcome Senator. You are already expected."

Nodding, she followed the clone trooper inside the complex. In her entire life, she had never felt as anxious and restless as she did now. Every step on the steps inside seemed to put more and more weight on her shoulders. It seemed like an eternity before she finally reached the door behind which lay the answers she was looking for.

"You may go in now Senator. The Emperor has been informed of your arrival. He wishes you well and hopes you enjoy your stay."

She grimaced. Then again, it was a good thing she wasn't meeting him. She wouldn't know how to behave. How she should feel when she came face to face with the man who had destroyed her life forever. Instead, she was a little relieved. Whether it was cold cal on the part of the emperor did not concern her. Only one thing mattered to her at the moment.

Anakin.

With a hiss, the door slid aside, revealing the room behind it, which was almost completely in darkness. It was completely bare and consisted only of metal. Ominous. Like a tomb.

Then she heard it.

The rattling. At first she wasn't sure how to classify it, but then she recognized it.

Someone was breathing there in the darkness at the end of the chamber.

Slowly, she forced herself to walk on. With every meter she approached, she seemed to lose more and more ground under her feet. Then, she recognized outlines. The shadowy silhouette of a dark creature that seemed to be lurking there in the darkness. She stopped a few meters in front of him. Stared at its back.

This thing. This black thing. It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be the little boy from Tatooine.

'Are you an angel?'

"Anakin?"

Her voice was weak and brittle. Only now did she realize that she had begun to tremble. It was cold. Not a natural cold. It emanated directly from the creature what was now slowly turning to face her.

She looked at him and her world shattered.

It was a sting. Deep in her heart. I burned. The feeling was hard to put into words.

"Padme."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere. Except from himself. As if he were a surreal apparition in this dark room. It was like a nightmare from which she couldn't escape.

'Anakin has turned to the dark side.'

She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. But now that she was here, seeing him, the final certainty hit her like the cold blade of a sword digging deep into her guts.

"You're here.'

He took a step towards her. Awkwardly. She almost thought he had tripped. Out of reflex, she backed away.

"What happened?"

Tears had gathered on her cheeks. He looked at her. He approached her again. This time she couldn't move away. She was paralyzed. Afraid that this dark creature would devour her.

Nothing happened.

He simply lifted his gloved hand an wiped away the wetness from her face.

"Obi-Wan."

His voice, though it was no longer his, pulsed with hatred and loathing as he mouthed his masters name. She swallowed. Slowly, she took his hand.

"I thought i'd never see you again.'

That didn't sound like this monster. The way he spoke. That was him. Her Anakin, who cared about her. Concerned for her well-being. Hidden behind this mask. Hidden behind this sea of blackness and darkness.

"I just had to see you."

That was all she could say.

"It's all right now Padmé. You are safe. The war is over. I have brought peace to the Republic."

A thick ball formed inside her as Vaders voice returned. He was completely convinced of his words. In his eyes, he had done the right thing.

The murder of all the innocents.

The death of the Jedi.

All of that was justified for him with that simple statement.

It broke her heart.

She was unable to form a clear thought.

"The Republic is dead, Anakin."

"Anakin is dead too..."

The bitter realization of this burned even deeper into her. Like a fire that raged. The certainty with which he had said it. It wasn't just a phrase.

Her husband was really dead. This being was left behind.

Darth Vader.

He looked at her. For a while there was just silence, in which she listened to the rattling of his breathing mask. Finally, he turned his gaze to her stomach.

"The baby?"

She stopped looking at him and looked down at his feet. She had to make a decision, and she had done so.

"I lost the baby...I came, because wanted to see you again for one last time."

Padm'e took a few steps back again. Vader had frozen into a pillar of salt. In that moment, she wished she could have seen his face. Just to perhaps discover the trace of humanity that she had assumed was still in him.

There was nothing left.

Anakin was gone forever.

She reached out and pressed the pendant into his hand. She cried again.

Then she turned away.

She could no longer stay here. She no longer wanted to stay here.

With every step she took towards the exit, she broke more and more apart. It was as if a part of her was dying and staying with him in this dark room.

She stopped once more at the door and turned to face to monstrosity one last time.

She said nothing. Just looked at him before she finally turned and left.

Inside, she broke, forever...