Author's Note: Thank you all SO much for the comments, stars, and support! I really appreciate it! XOXO
–
The Death Of A Dream - Part I
–
Would you tell me I was wrong?
Would you help me understand?
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again
Sometimes I wanna call you
But I know you won't be there
–
With eyes that so desperately wanted to shut and reopen to find this merely a dream, Padme felt an icy jolt pierce through her. Palpatine let himself in, urging her backwards. She was now stood in front of her children, rooted to the spot.
"What do you want?!" Her voice a high-pitched creaky sound, petrification projecting out. Luke and Leia absorbed the stress of their mother, their eyes never leaving the cloaked figure, afraid of what would happen should their attention be diverted. Because the sight was the stuff of nightmares, a thousand scars conjoined to form one pale, hardened face. And the eyes, the colour of yellow amber drawing you in, and once your fear is within their grasp, you fall into the dark abyss.
"To negotiate." Palpatine suggested. That effortless, formidable stroll bringing him closer to where she stood.
Padme took one more step back, aiming to be the protective barrier separating the Emperor from her children, blocking his path. She became more aware of the flow of breaths that left her lips, knowing how susceptible her children would be to rigid body language, her emotional temperature, and a screaming distress.
"Since when?" Padme did her best to find her centre, stabilizing on the outside, shaking on the inside, keeping her voice low and her tone even.
"It's what Naboolians do best." That scraping, nails-on-a-chalkboard voice was impaling, even with an upbeat pitch. "Use their words."
"Words are our greatest weapons." Padme reminded. She was discreet, vague, calling his bluff in a way, knowing full well Palpatine was never one to rely on negotiation.
"Unless you have a weapon." He said with a sneer.
He was weaponizing his words already. His eyes cover her like a dark cloud shading her face, letting her know he's defeated her before, vividly, politically, devastatingly. He would not give her the gift of thinking she posed any sort of threat – not this time.
But that didn't scare her. What did scare her was watching his eyes swiftly leave her and land on her son.
"The force is strong with him." He rasped slowly, coating every word with greed, stretching each syllable callously. He was vandalistic with his hunger for power, and almost gleeful, tickled by the powerful surge he felt through the force, linking him to the boy.
Padme's heart took a tumble as Palpatine's malevolent smirk aimed at her kids.
As a tidal wave of despair crashed into them, Padme gathered her children toward her, shielding them as they quivered behind her.
"Luke, Leia," She rushed with a whisper. "Go to your room."
"That won't be necessary." Palpatine interjected.
Padme clutched onto her children tighter and glared at him deliberately. "Leave them out of this."
"Why do you think they're here?" Palpatine's open palm stretched out, inviting her to take a guess. "Why do you think Lord Vader is training them?"
