chains | anidala

intro

"What are you doing out here?"

Padmé bit her lip as she searched Anakin's eyes. She prayed to find something, just the slightest glimpse, of him there. Yet they shone differently than before.

"I was so worried about you," She cried out, gripping onto the sides of his arms. "Obi-wan told me terrible things."

Anakin's grip tightened as he replied firmly, "What things?"

She was taken aback. Being with Anakin so long had taught her of his inability to calm his anger. But this time it was different. She could sense it.

"He said," She told him, tears streaming down her face. "You turned to the dark side. That you killed younglings."

She drew her hand to rest on her stomach, feeling as the emotional pain began to seep into her veins. She wanted it to be lies, yet there he stood with hatred in his eyes. Padmé felt as if he were slipping away a little more each second.

His hands grew soft, releasing her bruising skin as he began to caress her. "Obi-wan is trying to turn you against me."

"He cares about us," She attempted to reason. She wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him out of the trance he had began to bury himself in. What held her back was the violent look in his eyes, a gleaming danger.

"Us?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Padmé stroked his right arm, nodding her head. "He knows. He wants to help you."

Her hands began to tremble as she desperately pulled him closer to her. She felt like she had moments before the darkness that danced around his mind would swallow him whole.

"Anakin, all I want is your love."

"Love won't save you Padmé," He replied firmly. "Only my new powers can do that."

A sickening flood arose in her throat as she struggled to keep herself from falling. The dizziness washed her over like waves along a shore.

"At what cost? You're a good person, don't do this!"

"I won't lose you the way I lost my mother. I am becoming more powerful than any jedi has ever dreamed of. And I'm doing it for you. To protect you."

Padmé drew in a deep breath, holding his face and begging, "Come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything behind while we still can!"

"Don't you see? We don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the republic! I am more powerful than the chancellor,  I can overthrow him. " Joy filled his eyes, like the way he used to look when he could spend an extra hour with her throughout the day. It sickened her to think he believed what he was saying to be true. "And together you and I can reign the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be!"

She took an unsteady step backwards, her body shaking with the force of electricity.  She was terrified of what the man in front of her believed. She was petrified that he had taken the place of the soft hearted man she'd once fallen in love with.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing. Obi-wan was right! You've changed."

Anakin scoffed, jolting back. The infuriation in his eyes grew like a fire. It rose and flared within seconds.

"I don't wanna hear anymore about Obi-wan. The jedi turned against me. Don't you turn against me!"

The anger and rage directed at her like a slam to the face. It hit her with a force that left her empty. She could feel as the glass of her heart shattered into billions of pieces. Each one hit her inside of the chest, piercing her skin with so much pain she wanted to scream.

"I don't know you anymore! Anakin, you're breaking my heart," She sobbed. Her knees began to buckle as she sank to the floor. "You're going down a path I cannot follow."

"Because of Obi-wan," He replied swiftly. Her words had no effect on him.

"Because of what you've done! What you've planned to do! Stop! Stop now! Come back! I love you!"

"What I've done?!" He screams. "What I've done is protect you! Are you not grateful?! I have given you everything, Padmé! Sacrificed everything for us. You will do as I say, for you are my wife!"

"I will not!" She cried back.

Anakin raised his hand, Padmé's body rose with it. A pressure around her neck tightened like a rope. It blocked her from breathing as she tried her hardest to grasp for air.

"Yes," He shouted. "You will!"

Then the world turned black.