Some snippets from WIP Star Wars fanfics
Nothing really new going on. I'm becoming obsessed once again with Star Wars. I'm even trying to write star wars fanfiction.
Here is a snippet of an AU star wars fic where Vader is able to see a ghost of his wife. It's totally unbetad and Anakin feels like he's changing too fast but...
Oh and did I mention I don't own anything.
His Good Angel
Disclaimer: Not mine. It’s all Lucas. I’ve read so much fanfic that I can’t help but be inspired by other authors’ ideas. This is just my take on the Vader has his epiphany before he tortures Leia.
The man who had once identified himself as Anakin Skywalker stormed through the corridors of the Death Star determined to interrogate the treacherous ambassador. In a bleak cell, Princess Leia tried to ready herself to remain steadfast in the face of torture. And the Force, aware that horrors were moments away from being, released the spirit of Padmé back into the galaxy.
The interrogation droid came nearer, ever nearer. Leia’s eyes widened in terror and despair as the needle approached. She didn’t want to look at the droid. She didn’t want to look at the black masked menace in the corner of the room, either. Her soul cried out for help. Perhaps the injection had already started because Leia could not account for what happened next.
The lady shimmered, outlined in blue light, appearing in the space between Vader and Leia. Vader stepped forward almost involuntarily.
“Padmé” his word should have been a whisper, but the vocalizer prevented any soft sounds.
Leia knew she had heard the name before. She knew she had seen this woman’s face.
The woman looked puzzled. “Anakin?” her voice questioned shakily.
“He’s Darth Vader.” Leia interrupted.
“Be quiet, Princess.” Darth Vader ordered. His attention was focused almost entirely on the blue specter. “Padmé” The dark lord of the Sith reached out to the woman. His black gloved fingers just touching the light flowing at the end of her hair.
It might be the injection that was causing her to hallucinate ghosts and an enemy who could only be described as yearning but Leia was never one to miss an opportunity. If Darth Vader were distracted by the strange presence, than Leia would use this chance to escape.
Slowly, Leia sidled off the ferracrete bunk. She needed to some way to stop Lord Vader. If only she had a blaster …
The woman in blue moved closer. “Anakin?” Her hand reached out to touch the hard black mask.
“That name has…” he stopped himself from completing the thought. In the face of this miracle, with this chance to see Padmé again, he didn’t dare deny anything. He had already given up so much
He reached out to her as if to draw her into his embrace. Padmé inched forward before collapsing on the hard ground of the cell.
“Noooo!” he wailed.
Leia turned to look at the monster, her enemy, reputedly heartless, and now crouched on the floor by the fading blue presence. Even dumbstruck as she was by the sight, Leia knew she needed to take this opportunity to escape. She moved toward the door.
Darth Vader’s mask turned to face the Princess. “Help me. Please. I’ll do anything. Only, I cannot lose her again.”
Leia’s heart seemed to stop. It had to be the drugs. How else could she explain this bizarre situation?
It was the second time in his life that he made that offer. The second time that he had submitted himself to another, asking only for the life of his beloved. Logically, it didn’t make sense that this girl…but he was not using logic. The force swirled around him chaotically: hope and despair, love, need, anger, and loss all emanating from the man who had been the Chosen One.
“She’s not corporeal. And even if she were, I am not a healer” Leia muttered, edging closer to the door. “I don’t even think a medical droid would help.”
He bent towards the woman who seemed to be fading. “Padmé, please don’t leave me again. Please. Stay.”
The woman’s lips seemed to move. “Ani…” Then the spectral presence disappeared.
Leia was unprepared for the storm. The Dark Lord of the Sith seemed still but nothing else was. The lights sparked. The droid seemed to flop about the room, banging against walls violently. Leia backed up against the wall. She had been prepared to deal with ruthless torture. She had been expecting to face the cold and unrelenting hatred of the Emperor’s enforcer. This frenzy…Leia didn’t even know how to classify what this was.
She was terrified. The moment she had been captured, Leia had expected her life to be forfeit. But not like this. She would not lose, a casualty of a madman’s anguish. She grabbed hold of the interrogation droid. It was a weapon she could use. As Darth Vader came towards her she tried to calculate where his armor might be vulnerable. How likely was it that she could defend herself?
He awoke in Med Bay to the feel of millions of voices screaming in agony. At first, Vader thought he was remembering the past, the horror of slaying his compatriots in order to attain the power of the Dark Side, in order to save Padmé. The Emperor would not be pleased. In the long lonely years since his turn, Vader had forced himself to compensate for his new physical limitations. His one attempt to overthrow Palpatine had failed and Vader had resigned himself to working for his master and somehow achieving stability and order in this new Empire. He could not save his loved ones but he could ensure his place. It was not the place he wanted … but he would not be passed over.
He would not, could not explain the vision. He had tried so hard not to think about his beloved wife. He was not strong enough to live on that pain. The physical agony he experienced daily was something he could cope with. He was not able to lose her again and again in his nightmares and now in this vision.
He felt a familiar force presence. Obi-Wan, his former master, was on board this abomination of a space station. He could leave the med bay and track down his old mentor and achieve vengeance for the hollow wreck he had become. But Vader felt weak. Loss was too fresh. Another presence, was on the edge of his perception, soothing him, but he could not reach it. Padme’s loss was too fresh and he sank back into oblivion.
A weak pale blue presence stood by Vader’s bed watching as the equipment monitored her husband’s vital statistics.
“Ani, wake up” she whispered. But her presence in the force was not strong enough to carry her words. She had tried to return earlier. Aside from the desire to see Ani again, there was something she felt she had to do, some purpose which she had not yet accomplished. She did not have control; she was not strong enough. Padme flickered out again.
“Ready my craft” Vader commanded. The inactivity had reawakened his need for motion. In space he could focus on the present. He could use his gifts well and destroy the rebels threatening the empire.
“You have done well, Luke.” Obi-Wan smiled at the young pilot. He tried hard not to think of another pilot hurtling in space after nearly destroying his unknown child. But he couldn’t help but dwell on his former padawan.
Vader seemed strangely absent, not counting his recent defense of the Death Star. Obi-Wan was surprised. He had expected to fight Vader during Leia’s rescue. Weary of the years, he had almost looked forward to joining the force and finding peace. It seemed he would be a teacher once again. And teaching Skywalkers had never brought peace.
She managed to appear again as he lay concussed in the cockpit of his TIE Interceptor.
“Ani”
He knew he must be going out of his mind. Some system must be malfunctioning. Why else would he see this woman he had killed?
“Ani you must…”
“I must stop imagining you? That’s what I should do for the sake of my sanity.”
“You’re not imagining me.”
“Haunting me then. It took twenty years for you to get your revenge but I’d rather you torment me from beyond the grave than leave me again.”
“I never told you, Ani, but sometimes you sound like a bad holodrama.”
He was incensed and hurt. “This is what you wish to say to me?”
“You’re lucky I’m wiling to say anything to you at all after you choked me.”
Vader sighed heavily. “You’re still beautiful.”
“For a ghost?”
“For anything.” He paused, the silence only broken by the rhythmic rasp of his ventilator. “I…I didn’t mean to kill you.”
“You didn’t kill me.” Padme looked at him in shock. “Crushing my throat because you thought I had betrayed you didn’t help. But you didn’t kill me.”
“Palpatine said…”
“oh, yes! Believe everything he says! Did he ever teach you the full power of the Dark Side? Those new powers worked out so well.”
“I was desperate. Yoda wouldn’t help me. I thought Palpatine was my friend. You thought so too, once.”
“I know. I don’t think I shall ever forgive myself for that. “ The light surrounding Padme dimned.
“Angel…You… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“On Mustafar?”
“Then. Now. Ever.”
“I forgave you long ago.” Her image flickered. “I can’t stay. But I’ll try to return as soon as I get accustomed to this.”
The weeks following his return were filled with confusion for Vader. Called to the Emperor for punishment at losing the Death Star, Vader submitted as the Emperor’s Hand severed one of his mechanical limbs as humiliation, punishment, and warning combined. Like he had when he was younger and Watto’s slave, Vader hid his true thoughts from his master and bided his time. Perhaps he had dreamed the episode. Perhaps Padme was called up from his subconscious. But if she was indeed real than it was time to delve into Sith lore and learn the power to keep her with him.
It had been weeks since the Battle of Yavin, weeks since Leia had reported the details of her rescue. She had not mentioned the strange interlude with Darth Vader. If it were not for his absence when Tarkin obliterated Alderaan, Leia would have thought she had imagined the entire affair. Tarkin had been both thrilled at the Sith Lord’s absence and chagrined at not having Vader witness to the Death Star’s power. But Vader, according to the former Moff, had been recuperating in Med Bay. The stormtroopers who had rushed in to check on Vader hadn’t seen the woman, so Leia could only assume whatever she saw a product of the drugs. Vader’s suit was rumored to be life support as much as armor. He had had a malfunction. Leia wondered if it were possible to exploit the Sith Lord’s health issues in combat. His collapse must have been due to ill health. The Princess refused to acknowledge her memories of an emotionally vulnerable Sith Lord.
It was hard enough to mourn for a planet, to heal from the second attempt at interrogation. A few hours after Vader was escorted away from her cell, Tarkin’s henchmen and the droid returned. Torture was never pleasant, even without the threat of Vader ripping her secrets from her mind. Still, Leia had felt relief that she would not have to work quite so hard to defend her thoughts. With Vader out of the picture, she had had a greater chance.
Obi-Wan intended to train Luke further in the ways of the force. Somehow, he found himself dealing with Alliance protocol. General Kenobi the great Negotiator was a valuable resource and the Alliance sent Obi-Wan on numerous missions. While Obi-Wan regretted the occasions when he was separated from Luke he completely disliked the interrogation by the Alliance leaders. Mon Mothma had been a politician, a group he still devoutly distrusted. More significantly, Mon Mothma knew the old stories, knew enough to know Jedi were not supposed to have offspring. For one half of Kenobi and Skywalker to show up with a young man with force ability and the last name of a missing hero…
Obi-Wan felt his skills at avoiding questions were growing. He had inspired Luke with stories of a heroic deceased parent. Until he explained matters fully to the boy he would not reveal information to anyone else. Besides, the words he spoke were the truth form a certain point of view.
If Obi-Wan had watched more closely, if he had allowed himself to notice Luke’s idolization of the Princess of Alderaan, he might have considered telling more, much more quickly.
She found him staring at a photograph on a datapad. Hovering over his shoulder, she stared at the blond, blue-eyed young man who looked so much like her Ani.
“We have a son” he rasped. “All these years…on Tatooine. Padme, we had a son.”
“He’s so tall. He was just a baby when he left my arms….and now…” Padme broke off. “But what about our daughter?”
“A daughter?”
“We had twins. The file doesn’t mention his sister. Oh, Ani, you don’t think she’s …” She couldn’t say the word.
“I don’t know. I never knew.” He longed to enfold Padme in his arms, longed to comfort her, but he couldn’t. Together once again, they were still cruelly separated.
Silently Vader made a promise. He would have his family again. He had as yet made no progress in his research. In twenty years he had not made much progress on healing himself through the force - he was only able to survive without the mask for a few short seconds. Still, he had this new chance. As for his son, a smile creased Vader’s face, twisting the scars. As for his son, he symbolized hope - not for the rebellion the boy misguidedly fought for, but for Vader’s chance to free himself from Palpatine and create a world where he and his family would be free and secure. He would place a bounty on Luke to be brought to him alive. He would track his child across the galaxy. He’d have to disguise this from the Emperor but that was nothing new. Palpatine and Vader lived in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. The calm he experienced around the powerful force user, the times when Palpatine favored him with his thoughts, none of that mattered in the face of the larger betrayal.
His daughter. Vader hoped she was alive and raged against the fate that brought him joy with one hand and withheld it with the other. For years he had feared nothing, for he had had nothing. Now with hope, fear battered against his tender heart once more.
He looked at Padme who was still staring at the image of their boy. There was so much he wanted to say to her, was afraid to say to her. Once he would have felt supreme confidence in his powers. Then, Obi-Wan had left him burning in the fires of Mustafar and while he had learned to be strong, forceful, decisive, to expect perfection of his men because he himself still excelled whether in flying or in combat, he had failed at everything that truly mattered to him. Now the tasks facing him seemed monumental. Could he bring Padme back to a more solid state, heal his body so he could be with her, bond with his son, find his daughter, overthrow Palpatine….? The list seemed overwhelming. As Anakin Skywalker he had nearly always accomplished the impossible. The nearly might as well have been the greatest chasm. Vader shook himself from his reflections. He had always preferred, indeed relied on, action.
“I feel so helpless” Padme complained. “I died. I was heartbroken and just “
“Gave up. What happened to the woman who battled a nexu on Geonosis?”
“What happened to the man I married?” she retorted.
“More machine than man. I never thought…”
“I know that. It was rare for the Hero without Fear to think.” She smiled reminiscing.
Anakin’s children were a handful, Obi-Wan thought once again, rubbing at his bearded chin. Nothing could warm Hoth, but the sparks flying between Leia and Captain Solo came close. The rest of the base might be entertained by the tension between the not yet couple, but Obi-Wan could only wonder what Padme would think of her daughter and the brash flyboy. Then again, he had thought Padme more level headed than to secretly marry a Jedi. He had warned the Senator, but like all politicians she said one thing and did another.
Leia seemed so like Padme with her dedication, her desire to champion, but the fire that burned in her, the anger which ignited so easily, was a trademark of Anakin. A dangerous heritage.
But was it any more dangerous than Leia kissing Luke? The gossip was already making its way and like all gossip many variations proliferated.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He couldn’t answer fully. They were on the bridge of the Executor and Hoth was on the viewscreen.
“Not now.” He thought hoping she would understand but knowing that the tilt of his helmet and the twitch of his gauntleted hands was not enough to convey his meaning.
But Padme would not be ignored. Telling Admiral Ozzel and General Veers to wait for his word, he walked back to his chambers and privacy.
“You can’t endanger him like this.”
“He is a skilled pilot, strong in the force. He brought down Palpatine’s pet project.”
“Which just means he is in the thick of things. I spent the entire war wondering if I would be a secret widow.”
“You made me a widower.” Vader accused.
“We are not rehashing my death. You shouldn’t have choked me. I shouldn’t have yielded to death…”
“I worried about you before. I would dream of you safe and then you’d be kidnapped or contaminated with a virus. I remember when I first saw a real angel on the moons of Iego. She was beautiful but she could have been a Hutt compared to you. I dreamed of you night after night. The council sent me into situations I would never have chosen, risking my life for a Hutt’s spawn when the Hutts had made my mother and me slaves. You were the one good left in my life. My good angel.”
“You always knew what to say to me.” Padme said a tear snaking its way down her cheek. Was it Anakin’s imagination or was her form becoming more opaque?
“No more bad holodrama?”
“Not unless you want to tell me I’ve grown shorter” She smiled.
He reached out to touch the tear on her cheek, shocked that he was able to touch both the salty drop and the soft flesh beneath.
Tenderly as if she were the most fragile thing in existence, as if she would disappear like all his dreams, Vader enfolded Padme in his arms.
“How?” he asked her.
Once he was the Chosen One, born of the force. He should not be surprised by miracles.
“Ani, can you take your mask off?”
“In my hyperbaric chamber”
“Can we go there? I want…”
They were already in Vader’s quarters, it was only a few steps to the chamber which taunted him with freedom he no longer had. He waited while the claw descended and removed his mask. He waited again to turn around. “I’m no longer…”
“Anakin, we’re both alive. If you’re delaying because you’re no longer…”
“This is who I am now.”
He turned around and Padme struggled not to gasp. “You must have been in so much pain.”
“The greatest pain was not being able to be with you like this.”
As always his awkward yet heartfelt flattery added to the fire. She bent her head to kiss him. There were differences of course. The golden curls she had once loved to twine in her fingers were gone. The skin beneath her palms were riddled with scars. He was not the Anakin she knew, not physically. And yet, this poor wounded man whose lips pressed hungrily, greedily against hers, who had uttered such passionate phrases, was the same man who had once pleaded for her love in a firelit room in Varykino.
They broke apart. Her heart nearly broke again witnessing his labored breathing. Her own breathing was unsteady but that was due to passion.
“Do you need to put on the mask?”
“Perhaps. Let me try this first.”
-----
So that's where I got up to. I'm thinking of having Vader go to Yavin IV and talk to Exar Kun. I'm also thinking I don't want Padme to stop being a ghost quite so quickly. And I was thinking about the final confrontation on the Second Death Star and decided that if Vader was already reforming he would need to fight someone he felt even more conflicted about. Maybe even...
-----
He was in the Emperor’s throne room. Obi-Wan lay at Palpatine’s feet. The Emperor turned once more to Vader. “Do you think that killing me will change the past? Do you imagine that he will discount the jedi you killed, the scourge you became? Can you forget that this man severed your limbs and left you to die? You are deluding yourself my friend. How many years have you thirsted for revenge? Take it now. Kill him. It is the only thing you will claim. The alliance will not welcome you. They will not let you live in peace. The only way to protect yourself is with the power of the Dark Side. “
Palpatine’s words gave expression to Vader’s innermost thoughts. Perhaps that was his greatest talent - saying the right words at the right time. But for all the mistakes, Vader had made, he knew there were some he could not repeat. “I may never be at peace but hopefully my children and their friends will.” With these words Anakin engaged his lightsaber.
Palpatine laughed. “I have been waiting for this moment, my apprentice. Waiting for the day when you made this fatal mistake.”
A blast of sith lightening shortcutted the mechanisms in Anakin’s arm and the lightsaber dropped from Anakin’s hand
So then I had this idea (well this one came first) to try my hand at rewriting the Mustafar scene. I always felt that Padme was so Desdemona like. And there was something awful about Anakin offering her his greatest sacrifice after months of sacrifice and she just not being able to understand. (I'm not condoning what he did just for a politician she doesn't really use diplomacy in their relationship. And I wondered if she saw their relationship as sort of a sanctuary from that type of manipulation and what it would mean if she used her alleged skills to reason with him. Of course I just ended up going in circles.
She came to him on the hot fiery world of Mustafar.
They argued, as she tried to convince him to leave.
He told her he did everything for her. She was properly horrified. She opened her mouth to renounce his gift. And then she looked into Ani’s crazed eyes and realized she couldn’t tell him. If she wanted him to control himself, she would have to do the same.
“Ani, I know you did it all for me. I know. Will you please do this one thing more and leave with me?”
He looked unsure of himself. His anger seethed within him, longing to burst free once more.
“You are powerful, Ani. And I trust you to protect me. I do. I just want us to be together. This world hurts me and I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to change. I need you, Ani. I need you.”
She had never wanted to be seen as weak. But she knew Ani had given everything for her and she could not throw that back in his face even if she didn’t want it.
Her words seemed to calm him.
“I need you, too.” He whispered brokenly.
She threw her arms around him, drawing him to her. “Then, please, let’s leave.”
Unfortunately, Obi-Wan’s presence on the gangplank did not help the situation.
She saw her husband’s wrath flare once again and turned to see his old master.
“Move away, Padme.” Obi-Wan instructed.
Padme stepped closer to Anakin. “He’s my husband. He’s the father of my child.”
“He killed younglings. I told you.”
“I won’t let you kill him.” Padme looked into Anakin’s eyes.
“He won’t get the chance Padme.” Anakin growled. At first, at first he thought she had betrayed him. Now, Padme’s actions, her words, proved to him that his wife would never betray him.
He reached out his hand and started to use the force to choke Obi-Wan.
“No. Don’t Anakin. Don’t.” She begged.
Obi-Wan slumped unconscious as Anakin turned to Padme. “Why not? He’s against the Empire, against me.”
“Oh Anakin.” Padme didn’t know how to reach him. Didn’t know how to explain. “I love you. Part of me will probably love you no matter what you do. But the more you walk down this path, the further you walk away from anything I can understand or approve of while still being the woman you fell in love with.”
“I will always love you, Padme. Look what I’ve done for you?”
“I know. I know. I love you so much, I can’t imagine not being with you. I would as soon be dead. “ She raised a hand to his face. “But part of me is horrified.”
“So you don’t love me.”
“Why do you love me, Anakin? Is it just my body? Is it just because you see me as some all-forgiving, all-consoling angel? You taught me that our love was more important at times than cold duty, but I wouldn’t be Padme, the woman you claim you love, if I didn’t remind you of the world beyond ourselves. “
“We’ll make that world a better place Padme.”
“We can’t force the world to be the way we need it. I saw democracy die as the Senate applauded an emperor. I just don’t want to see the Anakin I love die.”
“I’m the same person.”
“The man who rushed with me to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan? The man who told me he was better than the acts of revenge causing him to butcher? I love you Anakin. Never doubt that. But if I love everything you do, I won’t be the woman you love.”
“Stop saying that. Do you think I wanted to kill the younglings? I had to. It was the only way I can save you. He promised me. I am the same man. The same man who swore to find a way to stop the people I love from dying and I can’t let you die.”
“I don’t want to die either. I want to live with you and our child. But I can’t live at the expense of others. I can’t. Anakin, help me. I can’t live in the dark. I can’t live if you are swallowed by the dark.”
“What can I do, Padme?” Anakin’s eyes looked bloodshot and the expression on his face emphasized his desperation. “I can never take back what I did? And if my new power can save you, if we can be together, as awful as it is, I would consider it worth it. Tell me we still have each other. Please Padme. Tell me.”
“My heart wants me to say yes. I’m so scared Anakin. Everything I’ve ever stood for tells me to walk away. This isn’t a political disagreement. You’ve gone beyond anything I ever thought I could accept. I don’t think I can accept it and yet I love you so much that I can’t not. I feel as if I’m dooming us no matter what choice I make. Help me, Ani.”
“What do you want from me, Padme?” Anakin cried. “I did what I thought was best and now you tell me that this will divide us forever. That you, like the sanctimonious jedi…”
“Anakin, don’t.” Padme interrupted. She couldn’t let him work himself up. “I love you. I know you love me. But the way you are acting is terrifying me. I’m afraid of talking to you, my husband, my love, afraid of saying the wrong thing and unleashing…Can’t you see that your anger is forming a wall between us?”
“What have you to be afraid of? Unless this is just about more secrets…”
“That was politics and I tried to get them to let me tell you. That was politics. The only secrets I have are the important ones I share with you.”
“and now we no longer need to keep our love a secret.”
Padme felt like she was going around in circles. “Anakin, is there anything I can possibly say to you?”
“You know what the jedi teach: Once you go dark it leaves its mark. I’ve killed but I slaughtered for a reason. Don’t tell me that…” Anakin broke down.
Padme ran to him. “You are my hero but you are also mine in the same way that I am yours. We’ll leave and..”
“You can’t leave. You couldn’t give up helping and creating. And now it seems I’ve divided us more completely than the Jedi rules ever did.”
“You think I wouldn’t give my role up.”
“I don’t think you could stop fighting.”
“But you could?”
“So we just leave and that’s it. We ignore my actions. We hope we can outrun Palpatine. “
“Yes.”
“And what about…”
“What about you? I don’t want to lose you. Or have I lost you already?”
“I will always love you, Padme.”
“But you don’t like this.”
“I don’t think we can hide. Let me learn Sideous’ secrets. Let me protect you. Then, I will destroy him and we can make the galaxy everything we want it to be.”
“You won’t give up…”
“I don’t care about the power other than keeping us safe. If we leave now I’ll have done all this for nothing. I won’t know how to save your life.”
She could see that he meant what he said. The man who she had sent to fight the war, sent to kill the enemy again and again, could not have his deeds become meaningless. Only the name of hero had kept him facing the increasing horrors of war. Only the thought of protecting her from his nightmares had enabled him to commit such devastation.
“Do you trust him?” she asked. Padme hesitated before continuing. Anakin had always been a staunch supporter of Palpatine. “If he is Sideous, he’s been controlling both sides of the war. I never expected…”
“Nor I.” Anakin admitted. Somehow, Padme’s shock allowed him to admit his weakness. “I … I don’t know. He is a danger to us and I will eliminate him - but I need to know how to save you.”
“Very well.” Although a politician, and versed in diplomacy, Padme was too much an idealist to rely on corrupt compromises. And to Padme it seemed as if her words were the most sinister political compromise she had ever undertaken. But this was Anakin, her beloved, her husband, the father of her unborn child and she would trust him.
Anakin blinked. “What?”
“We’ll take Obi-Wan to my ship. We’ll head to … not Naboo, Palpatine will guess that I’ve gone there…”
“Obi-Wan? You want to save Obi-Wan? “
“We can’t just leave him for the clones to find and murder him.”
“Padme...” his unspoken words were left hanging in the air. “You better leave soon. Palpatine is coming. He can’t find you here.”
Anakin levitated Obi-Wan’s inert form to Padme’s ship. Padme followed - ungainly with her pregnancy.
She ran again to his arms the only steady thing in her world. He hugged her tightly.
There was so much he wanted to say. “Wait for me. Please. At least this once.”
“I may not be able to.”
“I know.”
“I wish you were coming with me. You are all that I need.”
“I’ve failed those I love so often Padme. I can’t lose you.”
Here is a snippet of an AU star wars fic where Vader is able to see a ghost of his wife. It's totally unbetad and Anakin feels like he's changing too fast but...
Oh and did I mention I don't own anything.
His Good Angel
Disclaimer: Not mine. It’s all Lucas. I’ve read so much fanfic that I can’t help but be inspired by other authors’ ideas. This is just my take on the Vader has his epiphany before he tortures Leia.
The man who had once identified himself as Anakin Skywalker stormed through the corridors of the Death Star determined to interrogate the treacherous ambassador. In a bleak cell, Princess Leia tried to ready herself to remain steadfast in the face of torture. And the Force, aware that horrors were moments away from being, released the spirit of Padmé back into the galaxy.
The interrogation droid came nearer, ever nearer. Leia’s eyes widened in terror and despair as the needle approached. She didn’t want to look at the droid. She didn’t want to look at the black masked menace in the corner of the room, either. Her soul cried out for help. Perhaps the injection had already started because Leia could not account for what happened next.
The lady shimmered, outlined in blue light, appearing in the space between Vader and Leia. Vader stepped forward almost involuntarily.
“Padmé” his word should have been a whisper, but the vocalizer prevented any soft sounds.
Leia knew she had heard the name before. She knew she had seen this woman’s face.
The woman looked puzzled. “Anakin?” her voice questioned shakily.
“He’s Darth Vader.” Leia interrupted.
“Be quiet, Princess.” Darth Vader ordered. His attention was focused almost entirely on the blue specter. “Padmé” The dark lord of the Sith reached out to the woman. His black gloved fingers just touching the light flowing at the end of her hair.
It might be the injection that was causing her to hallucinate ghosts and an enemy who could only be described as yearning but Leia was never one to miss an opportunity. If Darth Vader were distracted by the strange presence, than Leia would use this chance to escape.
Slowly, Leia sidled off the ferracrete bunk. She needed to some way to stop Lord Vader. If only she had a blaster …
The woman in blue moved closer. “Anakin?” Her hand reached out to touch the hard black mask.
“That name has…” he stopped himself from completing the thought. In the face of this miracle, with this chance to see Padmé again, he didn’t dare deny anything. He had already given up so much
He reached out to her as if to draw her into his embrace. Padmé inched forward before collapsing on the hard ground of the cell.
“Noooo!” he wailed.
Leia turned to look at the monster, her enemy, reputedly heartless, and now crouched on the floor by the fading blue presence. Even dumbstruck as she was by the sight, Leia knew she needed to take this opportunity to escape. She moved toward the door.
Darth Vader’s mask turned to face the Princess. “Help me. Please. I’ll do anything. Only, I cannot lose her again.”
Leia’s heart seemed to stop. It had to be the drugs. How else could she explain this bizarre situation?
It was the second time in his life that he made that offer. The second time that he had submitted himself to another, asking only for the life of his beloved. Logically, it didn’t make sense that this girl…but he was not using logic. The force swirled around him chaotically: hope and despair, love, need, anger, and loss all emanating from the man who had been the Chosen One.
“She’s not corporeal. And even if she were, I am not a healer” Leia muttered, edging closer to the door. “I don’t even think a medical droid would help.”
He bent towards the woman who seemed to be fading. “Padmé, please don’t leave me again. Please. Stay.”
The woman’s lips seemed to move. “Ani…” Then the spectral presence disappeared.
Leia was unprepared for the storm. The Dark Lord of the Sith seemed still but nothing else was. The lights sparked. The droid seemed to flop about the room, banging against walls violently. Leia backed up against the wall. She had been prepared to deal with ruthless torture. She had been expecting to face the cold and unrelenting hatred of the Emperor’s enforcer. This frenzy…Leia didn’t even know how to classify what this was.
She was terrified. The moment she had been captured, Leia had expected her life to be forfeit. But not like this. She would not lose, a casualty of a madman’s anguish. She grabbed hold of the interrogation droid. It was a weapon she could use. As Darth Vader came towards her she tried to calculate where his armor might be vulnerable. How likely was it that she could defend herself?
He awoke in Med Bay to the feel of millions of voices screaming in agony. At first, Vader thought he was remembering the past, the horror of slaying his compatriots in order to attain the power of the Dark Side, in order to save Padmé. The Emperor would not be pleased. In the long lonely years since his turn, Vader had forced himself to compensate for his new physical limitations. His one attempt to overthrow Palpatine had failed and Vader had resigned himself to working for his master and somehow achieving stability and order in this new Empire. He could not save his loved ones but he could ensure his place. It was not the place he wanted … but he would not be passed over.
He would not, could not explain the vision. He had tried so hard not to think about his beloved wife. He was not strong enough to live on that pain. The physical agony he experienced daily was something he could cope with. He was not able to lose her again and again in his nightmares and now in this vision.
He felt a familiar force presence. Obi-Wan, his former master, was on board this abomination of a space station. He could leave the med bay and track down his old mentor and achieve vengeance for the hollow wreck he had become. But Vader felt weak. Loss was too fresh. Another presence, was on the edge of his perception, soothing him, but he could not reach it. Padme’s loss was too fresh and he sank back into oblivion.
A weak pale blue presence stood by Vader’s bed watching as the equipment monitored her husband’s vital statistics.
“Ani, wake up” she whispered. But her presence in the force was not strong enough to carry her words. She had tried to return earlier. Aside from the desire to see Ani again, there was something she felt she had to do, some purpose which she had not yet accomplished. She did not have control; she was not strong enough. Padme flickered out again.
“Ready my craft” Vader commanded. The inactivity had reawakened his need for motion. In space he could focus on the present. He could use his gifts well and destroy the rebels threatening the empire.
“You have done well, Luke.” Obi-Wan smiled at the young pilot. He tried hard not to think of another pilot hurtling in space after nearly destroying his unknown child. But he couldn’t help but dwell on his former padawan.
Vader seemed strangely absent, not counting his recent defense of the Death Star. Obi-Wan was surprised. He had expected to fight Vader during Leia’s rescue. Weary of the years, he had almost looked forward to joining the force and finding peace. It seemed he would be a teacher once again. And teaching Skywalkers had never brought peace.
She managed to appear again as he lay concussed in the cockpit of his TIE Interceptor.
“Ani”
He knew he must be going out of his mind. Some system must be malfunctioning. Why else would he see this woman he had killed?
“Ani you must…”
“I must stop imagining you? That’s what I should do for the sake of my sanity.”
“You’re not imagining me.”
“Haunting me then. It took twenty years for you to get your revenge but I’d rather you torment me from beyond the grave than leave me again.”
“I never told you, Ani, but sometimes you sound like a bad holodrama.”
He was incensed and hurt. “This is what you wish to say to me?”
“You’re lucky I’m wiling to say anything to you at all after you choked me.”
Vader sighed heavily. “You’re still beautiful.”
“For a ghost?”
“For anything.” He paused, the silence only broken by the rhythmic rasp of his ventilator. “I…I didn’t mean to kill you.”
“You didn’t kill me.” Padme looked at him in shock. “Crushing my throat because you thought I had betrayed you didn’t help. But you didn’t kill me.”
“Palpatine said…”
“oh, yes! Believe everything he says! Did he ever teach you the full power of the Dark Side? Those new powers worked out so well.”
“I was desperate. Yoda wouldn’t help me. I thought Palpatine was my friend. You thought so too, once.”
“I know. I don’t think I shall ever forgive myself for that. “ The light surrounding Padme dimned.
“Angel…You… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“On Mustafar?”
“Then. Now. Ever.”
“I forgave you long ago.” Her image flickered. “I can’t stay. But I’ll try to return as soon as I get accustomed to this.”
The weeks following his return were filled with confusion for Vader. Called to the Emperor for punishment at losing the Death Star, Vader submitted as the Emperor’s Hand severed one of his mechanical limbs as humiliation, punishment, and warning combined. Like he had when he was younger and Watto’s slave, Vader hid his true thoughts from his master and bided his time. Perhaps he had dreamed the episode. Perhaps Padme was called up from his subconscious. But if she was indeed real than it was time to delve into Sith lore and learn the power to keep her with him.
It had been weeks since the Battle of Yavin, weeks since Leia had reported the details of her rescue. She had not mentioned the strange interlude with Darth Vader. If it were not for his absence when Tarkin obliterated Alderaan, Leia would have thought she had imagined the entire affair. Tarkin had been both thrilled at the Sith Lord’s absence and chagrined at not having Vader witness to the Death Star’s power. But Vader, according to the former Moff, had been recuperating in Med Bay. The stormtroopers who had rushed in to check on Vader hadn’t seen the woman, so Leia could only assume whatever she saw a product of the drugs. Vader’s suit was rumored to be life support as much as armor. He had had a malfunction. Leia wondered if it were possible to exploit the Sith Lord’s health issues in combat. His collapse must have been due to ill health. The Princess refused to acknowledge her memories of an emotionally vulnerable Sith Lord.
It was hard enough to mourn for a planet, to heal from the second attempt at interrogation. A few hours after Vader was escorted away from her cell, Tarkin’s henchmen and the droid returned. Torture was never pleasant, even without the threat of Vader ripping her secrets from her mind. Still, Leia had felt relief that she would not have to work quite so hard to defend her thoughts. With Vader out of the picture, she had had a greater chance.
Obi-Wan intended to train Luke further in the ways of the force. Somehow, he found himself dealing with Alliance protocol. General Kenobi the great Negotiator was a valuable resource and the Alliance sent Obi-Wan on numerous missions. While Obi-Wan regretted the occasions when he was separated from Luke he completely disliked the interrogation by the Alliance leaders. Mon Mothma had been a politician, a group he still devoutly distrusted. More significantly, Mon Mothma knew the old stories, knew enough to know Jedi were not supposed to have offspring. For one half of Kenobi and Skywalker to show up with a young man with force ability and the last name of a missing hero…
Obi-Wan felt his skills at avoiding questions were growing. He had inspired Luke with stories of a heroic deceased parent. Until he explained matters fully to the boy he would not reveal information to anyone else. Besides, the words he spoke were the truth form a certain point of view.
If Obi-Wan had watched more closely, if he had allowed himself to notice Luke’s idolization of the Princess of Alderaan, he might have considered telling more, much more quickly.
She found him staring at a photograph on a datapad. Hovering over his shoulder, she stared at the blond, blue-eyed young man who looked so much like her Ani.
“We have a son” he rasped. “All these years…on Tatooine. Padme, we had a son.”
“He’s so tall. He was just a baby when he left my arms….and now…” Padme broke off. “But what about our daughter?”
“A daughter?”
“We had twins. The file doesn’t mention his sister. Oh, Ani, you don’t think she’s …” She couldn’t say the word.
“I don’t know. I never knew.” He longed to enfold Padme in his arms, longed to comfort her, but he couldn’t. Together once again, they were still cruelly separated.
Silently Vader made a promise. He would have his family again. He had as yet made no progress in his research. In twenty years he had not made much progress on healing himself through the force - he was only able to survive without the mask for a few short seconds. Still, he had this new chance. As for his son, a smile creased Vader’s face, twisting the scars. As for his son, he symbolized hope - not for the rebellion the boy misguidedly fought for, but for Vader’s chance to free himself from Palpatine and create a world where he and his family would be free and secure. He would place a bounty on Luke to be brought to him alive. He would track his child across the galaxy. He’d have to disguise this from the Emperor but that was nothing new. Palpatine and Vader lived in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. The calm he experienced around the powerful force user, the times when Palpatine favored him with his thoughts, none of that mattered in the face of the larger betrayal.
His daughter. Vader hoped she was alive and raged against the fate that brought him joy with one hand and withheld it with the other. For years he had feared nothing, for he had had nothing. Now with hope, fear battered against his tender heart once more.
He looked at Padme who was still staring at the image of their boy. There was so much he wanted to say to her, was afraid to say to her. Once he would have felt supreme confidence in his powers. Then, Obi-Wan had left him burning in the fires of Mustafar and while he had learned to be strong, forceful, decisive, to expect perfection of his men because he himself still excelled whether in flying or in combat, he had failed at everything that truly mattered to him. Now the tasks facing him seemed monumental. Could he bring Padme back to a more solid state, heal his body so he could be with her, bond with his son, find his daughter, overthrow Palpatine….? The list seemed overwhelming. As Anakin Skywalker he had nearly always accomplished the impossible. The nearly might as well have been the greatest chasm. Vader shook himself from his reflections. He had always preferred, indeed relied on, action.
“I feel so helpless” Padme complained. “I died. I was heartbroken and just “
“Gave up. What happened to the woman who battled a nexu on Geonosis?”
“What happened to the man I married?” she retorted.
“More machine than man. I never thought…”
“I know that. It was rare for the Hero without Fear to think.” She smiled reminiscing.
Anakin’s children were a handful, Obi-Wan thought once again, rubbing at his bearded chin. Nothing could warm Hoth, but the sparks flying between Leia and Captain Solo came close. The rest of the base might be entertained by the tension between the not yet couple, but Obi-Wan could only wonder what Padme would think of her daughter and the brash flyboy. Then again, he had thought Padme more level headed than to secretly marry a Jedi. He had warned the Senator, but like all politicians she said one thing and did another.
Leia seemed so like Padme with her dedication, her desire to champion, but the fire that burned in her, the anger which ignited so easily, was a trademark of Anakin. A dangerous heritage.
But was it any more dangerous than Leia kissing Luke? The gossip was already making its way and like all gossip many variations proliferated.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
He couldn’t answer fully. They were on the bridge of the Executor and Hoth was on the viewscreen.
“Not now.” He thought hoping she would understand but knowing that the tilt of his helmet and the twitch of his gauntleted hands was not enough to convey his meaning.
But Padme would not be ignored. Telling Admiral Ozzel and General Veers to wait for his word, he walked back to his chambers and privacy.
“You can’t endanger him like this.”
“He is a skilled pilot, strong in the force. He brought down Palpatine’s pet project.”
“Which just means he is in the thick of things. I spent the entire war wondering if I would be a secret widow.”
“You made me a widower.” Vader accused.
“We are not rehashing my death. You shouldn’t have choked me. I shouldn’t have yielded to death…”
“I worried about you before. I would dream of you safe and then you’d be kidnapped or contaminated with a virus. I remember when I first saw a real angel on the moons of Iego. She was beautiful but she could have been a Hutt compared to you. I dreamed of you night after night. The council sent me into situations I would never have chosen, risking my life for a Hutt’s spawn when the Hutts had made my mother and me slaves. You were the one good left in my life. My good angel.”
“You always knew what to say to me.” Padme said a tear snaking its way down her cheek. Was it Anakin’s imagination or was her form becoming more opaque?
“No more bad holodrama?”
“Not unless you want to tell me I’ve grown shorter” She smiled.
He reached out to touch the tear on her cheek, shocked that he was able to touch both the salty drop and the soft flesh beneath.
Tenderly as if she were the most fragile thing in existence, as if she would disappear like all his dreams, Vader enfolded Padme in his arms.
“How?” he asked her.
Once he was the Chosen One, born of the force. He should not be surprised by miracles.
“Ani, can you take your mask off?”
“In my hyperbaric chamber”
“Can we go there? I want…”
They were already in Vader’s quarters, it was only a few steps to the chamber which taunted him with freedom he no longer had. He waited while the claw descended and removed his mask. He waited again to turn around. “I’m no longer…”
“Anakin, we’re both alive. If you’re delaying because you’re no longer…”
“This is who I am now.”
He turned around and Padme struggled not to gasp. “You must have been in so much pain.”
“The greatest pain was not being able to be with you like this.”
As always his awkward yet heartfelt flattery added to the fire. She bent her head to kiss him. There were differences of course. The golden curls she had once loved to twine in her fingers were gone. The skin beneath her palms were riddled with scars. He was not the Anakin she knew, not physically. And yet, this poor wounded man whose lips pressed hungrily, greedily against hers, who had uttered such passionate phrases, was the same man who had once pleaded for her love in a firelit room in Varykino.
They broke apart. Her heart nearly broke again witnessing his labored breathing. Her own breathing was unsteady but that was due to passion.
“Do you need to put on the mask?”
“Perhaps. Let me try this first.”
-----
So that's where I got up to. I'm thinking of having Vader go to Yavin IV and talk to Exar Kun. I'm also thinking I don't want Padme to stop being a ghost quite so quickly. And I was thinking about the final confrontation on the Second Death Star and decided that if Vader was already reforming he would need to fight someone he felt even more conflicted about. Maybe even...
-----
He was in the Emperor’s throne room. Obi-Wan lay at Palpatine’s feet. The Emperor turned once more to Vader. “Do you think that killing me will change the past? Do you imagine that he will discount the jedi you killed, the scourge you became? Can you forget that this man severed your limbs and left you to die? You are deluding yourself my friend. How many years have you thirsted for revenge? Take it now. Kill him. It is the only thing you will claim. The alliance will not welcome you. They will not let you live in peace. The only way to protect yourself is with the power of the Dark Side. “
Palpatine’s words gave expression to Vader’s innermost thoughts. Perhaps that was his greatest talent - saying the right words at the right time. But for all the mistakes, Vader had made, he knew there were some he could not repeat. “I may never be at peace but hopefully my children and their friends will.” With these words Anakin engaged his lightsaber.
Palpatine laughed. “I have been waiting for this moment, my apprentice. Waiting for the day when you made this fatal mistake.”
A blast of sith lightening shortcutted the mechanisms in Anakin’s arm and the lightsaber dropped from Anakin’s hand
So then I had this idea (well this one came first) to try my hand at rewriting the Mustafar scene. I always felt that Padme was so Desdemona like. And there was something awful about Anakin offering her his greatest sacrifice after months of sacrifice and she just not being able to understand. (I'm not condoning what he did just for a politician she doesn't really use diplomacy in their relationship. And I wondered if she saw their relationship as sort of a sanctuary from that type of manipulation and what it would mean if she used her alleged skills to reason with him. Of course I just ended up going in circles.
She came to him on the hot fiery world of Mustafar.
They argued, as she tried to convince him to leave.
He told her he did everything for her. She was properly horrified. She opened her mouth to renounce his gift. And then she looked into Ani’s crazed eyes and realized she couldn’t tell him. If she wanted him to control himself, she would have to do the same.
“Ani, I know you did it all for me. I know. Will you please do this one thing more and leave with me?”
He looked unsure of himself. His anger seethed within him, longing to burst free once more.
“You are powerful, Ani. And I trust you to protect me. I do. I just want us to be together. This world hurts me and I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to change. I need you, Ani. I need you.”
She had never wanted to be seen as weak. But she knew Ani had given everything for her and she could not throw that back in his face even if she didn’t want it.
Her words seemed to calm him.
“I need you, too.” He whispered brokenly.
She threw her arms around him, drawing him to her. “Then, please, let’s leave.”
Unfortunately, Obi-Wan’s presence on the gangplank did not help the situation.
She saw her husband’s wrath flare once again and turned to see his old master.
“Move away, Padme.” Obi-Wan instructed.
Padme stepped closer to Anakin. “He’s my husband. He’s the father of my child.”
“He killed younglings. I told you.”
“I won’t let you kill him.” Padme looked into Anakin’s eyes.
“He won’t get the chance Padme.” Anakin growled. At first, at first he thought she had betrayed him. Now, Padme’s actions, her words, proved to him that his wife would never betray him.
He reached out his hand and started to use the force to choke Obi-Wan.
“No. Don’t Anakin. Don’t.” She begged.
Obi-Wan slumped unconscious as Anakin turned to Padme. “Why not? He’s against the Empire, against me.”
“Oh Anakin.” Padme didn’t know how to reach him. Didn’t know how to explain. “I love you. Part of me will probably love you no matter what you do. But the more you walk down this path, the further you walk away from anything I can understand or approve of while still being the woman you fell in love with.”
“I will always love you, Padme. Look what I’ve done for you?”
“I know. I know. I love you so much, I can’t imagine not being with you. I would as soon be dead. “ She raised a hand to his face. “But part of me is horrified.”
“So you don’t love me.”
“Why do you love me, Anakin? Is it just my body? Is it just because you see me as some all-forgiving, all-consoling angel? You taught me that our love was more important at times than cold duty, but I wouldn’t be Padme, the woman you claim you love, if I didn’t remind you of the world beyond ourselves. “
“We’ll make that world a better place Padme.”
“We can’t force the world to be the way we need it. I saw democracy die as the Senate applauded an emperor. I just don’t want to see the Anakin I love die.”
“I’m the same person.”
“The man who rushed with me to Geonosis to save Obi-Wan? The man who told me he was better than the acts of revenge causing him to butcher? I love you Anakin. Never doubt that. But if I love everything you do, I won’t be the woman you love.”
“Stop saying that. Do you think I wanted to kill the younglings? I had to. It was the only way I can save you. He promised me. I am the same man. The same man who swore to find a way to stop the people I love from dying and I can’t let you die.”
“I don’t want to die either. I want to live with you and our child. But I can’t live at the expense of others. I can’t. Anakin, help me. I can’t live in the dark. I can’t live if you are swallowed by the dark.”
“What can I do, Padme?” Anakin’s eyes looked bloodshot and the expression on his face emphasized his desperation. “I can never take back what I did? And if my new power can save you, if we can be together, as awful as it is, I would consider it worth it. Tell me we still have each other. Please Padme. Tell me.”
“My heart wants me to say yes. I’m so scared Anakin. Everything I’ve ever stood for tells me to walk away. This isn’t a political disagreement. You’ve gone beyond anything I ever thought I could accept. I don’t think I can accept it and yet I love you so much that I can’t not. I feel as if I’m dooming us no matter what choice I make. Help me, Ani.”
“What do you want from me, Padme?” Anakin cried. “I did what I thought was best and now you tell me that this will divide us forever. That you, like the sanctimonious jedi…”
“Anakin, don’t.” Padme interrupted. She couldn’t let him work himself up. “I love you. I know you love me. But the way you are acting is terrifying me. I’m afraid of talking to you, my husband, my love, afraid of saying the wrong thing and unleashing…Can’t you see that your anger is forming a wall between us?”
“What have you to be afraid of? Unless this is just about more secrets…”
“That was politics and I tried to get them to let me tell you. That was politics. The only secrets I have are the important ones I share with you.”
“and now we no longer need to keep our love a secret.”
Padme felt like she was going around in circles. “Anakin, is there anything I can possibly say to you?”
“You know what the jedi teach: Once you go dark it leaves its mark. I’ve killed but I slaughtered for a reason. Don’t tell me that…” Anakin broke down.
Padme ran to him. “You are my hero but you are also mine in the same way that I am yours. We’ll leave and..”
“You can’t leave. You couldn’t give up helping and creating. And now it seems I’ve divided us more completely than the Jedi rules ever did.”
“You think I wouldn’t give my role up.”
“I don’t think you could stop fighting.”
“But you could?”
“So we just leave and that’s it. We ignore my actions. We hope we can outrun Palpatine. “
“Yes.”
“And what about…”
“What about you? I don’t want to lose you. Or have I lost you already?”
“I will always love you, Padme.”
“But you don’t like this.”
“I don’t think we can hide. Let me learn Sideous’ secrets. Let me protect you. Then, I will destroy him and we can make the galaxy everything we want it to be.”
“You won’t give up…”
“I don’t care about the power other than keeping us safe. If we leave now I’ll have done all this for nothing. I won’t know how to save your life.”
She could see that he meant what he said. The man who she had sent to fight the war, sent to kill the enemy again and again, could not have his deeds become meaningless. Only the name of hero had kept him facing the increasing horrors of war. Only the thought of protecting her from his nightmares had enabled him to commit such devastation.
“Do you trust him?” she asked. Padme hesitated before continuing. Anakin had always been a staunch supporter of Palpatine. “If he is Sideous, he’s been controlling both sides of the war. I never expected…”
“Nor I.” Anakin admitted. Somehow, Padme’s shock allowed him to admit his weakness. “I … I don’t know. He is a danger to us and I will eliminate him - but I need to know how to save you.”
“Very well.” Although a politician, and versed in diplomacy, Padme was too much an idealist to rely on corrupt compromises. And to Padme it seemed as if her words were the most sinister political compromise she had ever undertaken. But this was Anakin, her beloved, her husband, the father of her unborn child and she would trust him.
Anakin blinked. “What?”
“We’ll take Obi-Wan to my ship. We’ll head to … not Naboo, Palpatine will guess that I’ve gone there…”
“Obi-Wan? You want to save Obi-Wan? “
“We can’t just leave him for the clones to find and murder him.”
“Padme...” his unspoken words were left hanging in the air. “You better leave soon. Palpatine is coming. He can’t find you here.”
Anakin levitated Obi-Wan’s inert form to Padme’s ship. Padme followed - ungainly with her pregnancy.
She ran again to his arms the only steady thing in her world. He hugged her tightly.
There was so much he wanted to say. “Wait for me. Please. At least this once.”
“I may not be able to.”
“I know.”
“I wish you were coming with me. You are all that I need.”
“I’ve failed those I love so often Padme. I can’t lose you.”