WHAT IS REAL

XVIII

Vader went up to lie beside Padme and decided to see if he could help her through the force. He reached out for her and was shocked by what he saw. Dreams were floating in her head about what had happened to her while in prison. The whole time he was searching her brain he saw darkness around her. He could find nothing of who she had been. Interestingly I am nothing like I used to be either. He did see one small ray of light and inside that light was a small, very small, ray of hope that one day Anakin would return to help her. Anakin was not around but Vader would help her.

Anakin where are you? Why won't you come home to me? You promised me that no one would ever take you from me. Can't you hear me calling for you? ANAKIN! No! Not you please leave me alone. I just want to be left alone. A cruel cackle filled her ears, "But My dear you will never be alone." The door to her cell opened and 3 men walked in she cowered into a corner but they still came at her and she felt hands groping all over her as she screamed, "Anakin!"

Padme sat up and found herself not in a prison cell but in a lush bedroom. She looked around very confused. Where m I? She thought as she took in her surroundings. The bed was a large soft bed with red sheets and black comforter. There was a black Chest in corner and on the left wall were doors that seemed to go out to a Balcony. One of the doors was slightly opened and she saw slight movement around it. Panic started to rise in her throat and she screamed, "Don't come near me!" She curled up into a ball trying to make herself invisible. She started to cry, but she felt two hands on her arms and her tears were falling on the chest of her captor. She had not felt this safe in someone's arm for a long time. All other hands and arms had been very cruel. She looked up at her captors face and gasped. The face was one she had not seen in such a long time. His long blonde curls still framed his face perfectly but his face was harder and his eyes held a darkness one could not describe. Yet when he looked at her she knew, "Anakin?" She asked hesitantly.

"I no longer know that person. I am Vader."

Padme threw her arms around Vader again. She wanted to touch him again to make sure he was real. Vader's arms wrapped around her and she felt the cold steel through her nightgown. She backed up and looked at Vader. Both arms were mechanical she put her hand on his chest and that was warm. "What happened to your arm?"

"Obi Wan" That was all he would say.

"Vader, are you going to turn me over to Palpatine?"

"Never!" he spat out with such vehemence that Padme was taken back for a second. "You will never that man again."

"So you did save me. You did hear me calling for you."

"Yes I will never let you go again."