WHAT IS REAL

XLI

Padme waited not so patiently in her home. Vader had contacted her on his coded comlink and she knew he would show up soon. What was taking him so long? She paced by the front door looking at it every five seconds watching to see if the latch would turn.

It had been 6 months since she had seen him and she knew this would be a short visit. I stand here waiting just like during the war. This time though Anakin won't be coming home to me. It is the same face but a totally different guy. She had never seen any of the holonews reports over the last 6 months. She did not want to know what was going on in the world. The world had turned out to be a very dark place and it was something she was willing to hide from. Here she could dream that everything was normal. She could imagine that it really was Anakin coming home from the war. She could imagine that she never had any children and that Palpatine never existed. She liked it that way, and it would stay that way except for the small voice in her head that kept saying to her; What happened to Luke and Liea? The man you are talking to is not Anakin. The dreams she would have almost every night left her in a sweat and some night she would wake up screaming. So as much as she wanted the real world to go away it encroached on her everyday.

Today was different though. Vader called her in the middle of the afternoon instead of his standard night call. It scared her when she felt it vibrate. Vader! What was wrong! She had soon found out though that nothing was wrong he had new that set her heart on fire. He was coming home for short visit before he went on his next assignment. Two days was all she would get because if he stayed longer it would jeopardize his cover and ultimately it would jeopardize her. She was sure she would explode from the excitement that was building up in her. Jennifer had helped her get ready and she checked the mirror in the foyer quickly again just for something to do. There was really no need. Her makeup was perfect, the curls in her hair looked just like small rivers that flowed down her back and her simple dark blue gown was just the icing on the cake. She smiled slightly though her eyes held so much anxiety that the smile barely changed anything on her face.