chains | anidala

fall

Padmé pushed Anakin off of her. She threw her hands up in the air and stood up, shouting, "The what?!"

"I was his apprentice," Anakin told her calmly, "I killed him. I am now the Sith."

"But... that's... no..." she stammered, at a loss of words. The mix of emotions confused her. She'd been sad, happy, relieved, and mortified all in the span of ten minutes.

"I told you I would overthrow him," he told her. Then he shouted out, "Didn't I, Obi-wan?"

Obi-wan came out of his hiding position behind one of the stone walls. His robes brushed against the sand as he drew closer. His hand hovered over his lightsaber, but he didn't touch it. He was calm and tactical, two skills Anakin and Padmé still had to master.

"Yes, Anakin, you did say that," his voice rang cold throughout the dessert air.

"Come with us," Padmé told him again. "You have the opportunity to completely destroy Palpatine's Galactic Empire. You've been training for this moment your entire life, Anakin. Join Obi-wan and I again and make things right."

Anakin responded, anger sewn between his words, "No. I won't give up what I've sacrificed so much for. I am the Sith. I have an entire army that will do whatever I want at the snap of my fingers."

Padmé felt like choking. Although it seemed impossible, her heart shattered into two again. It pierced her chest, like glass cut through skin.

"I'm done," she told him flatly. "If this is what you want, this is what you can have. If an army means more than innocent lives, your friends, your wife, and your children... than rule it. But don't tell me I abandoned you, you were the one that chose power over us. Not me."

Anakin smirked, "Whatever you say."

She let a shriek of frustration escape her throat, "I don't understand you! I don't understand how you have changed so much! I don't understand how you can share the moment we just had and then hate me at the same time!"

"I don't hate you. I love you."

"You have a twisted perspective of what love is," she hissed, "This is not love."

"This is the same love I've had for you since the day I met you 13 years ago. Don't let your single mindful ways block your view on my love."

"You're a prideful bastard!" Padmé shouted.

"I won't kidnap you," Anakin told her. He said the sentence as if he were doing her a favor. As if he was extending her grace.

Padmé knew ordinary couples didn't force each other to see not being kidnapped as a treat. Anakin was sick. She cursed herself for believing she could have him back. Darth Vader had consumed him. He was a Sith now, nothing could bring him back. Not her, not Obi-wan, not their children... He was gone.

"However," he continued, "You need to make a choice."

"And that would be?" Obi-wan asked.

"It's Obi-wan Kenobi or it's your husband Anakin Skywalker. You choose, Padmé."

"That's not the decision you're forcing me to make," she insisted, "You're asking me to choose between the darkside and the light."

"You can leave with Obi-wan and back to the rebels," Anakin shouted, "Or you can come with me. You'll be safe. You won't be trapped. It will be you and me. We will rule the galaxy and make things the way we want them."

"What I want is to be married to a sane man," Padmé spat.

"Make a choice Padmé. Me or him?"

She shook furiously, then gestured to her husband. "Kill him for all I care, Obi-wan."