The Love of a Sith (aka The Chosen One)

Possession

--Chapter under works: Vader is angered at Padme, Luke, and Leia's dedication and love for Obi-Wan.  Vader uses the Force on Padme, again, as he did on Mustafar, and both Padme and the twins retreat from him. Vader experiences regret.

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The air positively hummed with tension.

Vader didn't know how to feel.  There was deep, dark fury, then outrage, then hurt so profound he had to work to refrain from grabbing his chest from the pain.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.  

Her face was supposed to light up in the smile that made her features glow, so radiant and adoring, the one she reserved only for him.  She was supposed to run into his arms, so he could hold her tightly and know he would never have to be without her again.  She was supposed to soothe him in the comfort he had so missed these past few years. 

She was supposed to love him.

Not this loathing and disgust.

He hated it.

Yet he wasn't supposed to.  

But he did, of course he did, it was Padme.

The most forbidden of all is compassion.

 A lifetime ago he had told Padme that he defined compassion as unconditional love.

Compassion was strictly forbidden for a Sith Lord . . . and now he could see why.  It was a horrible weakness, tearing at your insides and putting you in a position of vulnerability where you could so easily be hurt, where you were at the total mercy of the other person.  Here he was, stuck wallowing in pain and anguish, while Padme likely wasn't affected at all by the happenings of the past few hours.  She probably wasn't even aware of what she was doing to him.  In fact, she was undoubtedly in the other room at this very moment dreaming about Obi-Wan!

Vader gripped the armrests painfully tight, attempting to stop the trembling that had come over his body.  He needed to stop this.  He was in control, not subject to the mercy of someone else.  He was Darth Vader, for Sith's sake!  He had wreaked havoc over planets and peoples, was the most feared being in the entire galaxy.  Darth Vader did not have silly human desire such as love.  No, he did not need even Padme's love.  It didn't matter if she loved him; he would have her and she would stay with him whether she liked it or not.

And that was final.

Seeing they had arrived at the location of the Executor, he jerked the ship out of hyperspace and quickly settled into the hanger bay, noting with displeasure that the troops that had come with him to Tatooine were right behind him- without Kenobi.  He growled impatiently, stalking over to retrieve the twins from the room he had sent them to so he could meditate.  He had hoped that his men would have success in capturing Obi-Wan, but he should have known better.  His master - no, his former master, Padme's new lover boy - was unfortunately not a weak force in the slightest.

His brow creased in shock as he saw Kix and Cody playing with the twins, their helmets lying discarded on the floor.  Leia squealed happily as she raced after Kix, Luke grabbing at Cody's outstretched arm with blue eyes wide with determination.  Vader opened his mouth to speak, but found himself unable to form words.  Seeing his looming shadow in the doorway and noting his silence, the two troopers ran over at once, standing quickly at attention.  The twins went suddenly still, standing straight and obedient.

"Sorry, sir!  It won't happen again!"

"No, no," he said, a little disorientated and strangely uncomfortable.  "I- Um- You can continue that later, but we just arrived at the Executor."

If not for the fact that they were stormtroopers, Kix and Cody would have exchanged glances at the Sith's strange behavior; but as it were, they nodded respectfully, heading out to the main part of the ship with the twins trailing dutifully behind them, casting nervous glances back at Vader.  

He found he did not like their newfound quietness one bit.

Irritated again, Vader followed, stopping to knock sharply on another door.  There was a moment's pause, some shuffling- then the door opened, revealing Padme, her brown eyes faintly red and her face unusually blank. 

Hmph.  So maybe she hadn't been fantasizing about Obi-Wan.  

Or maybe she had been mourning his parting from her.

"It's time to go," he said roughly, his voice coming out harsher than he intended.  She flinched at his tone; then her face went blank again, and she robotically pushed past him and into the hallway, heading for the entryway.   

Vader shivered slightly at her touch, craving nothing more than the feel of it soft on his skin- but he resisted the hunger, balling his hands underneath his cloak and following her out.

He had waited three years.  He could wait a few more hours.

Suddenly he felt uneasy. Padme's face after he had accidentally thrown her flashed into his mind, of pure horror and disbelief. She would surely not accept him in the least after such an episode.

Why hadn't he controlled himself?

For the first time in three years of torturing and destroying and delighting in pain . . . he felt an inkling of regret.

But he shouldn't feel regret for it.  He didn't need to . . .

Couldn't he entirely control the situation - make her stay with him, accept him - through force?

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Padme gripped Luke and Leia's hands tightly in hers, shivering as the passed row upon row of stormtroopers in the hanger bay, lined up to await the return of their commander.  Ever since Vader had hurt her, the twins had become suddenly wary and ceased their paying of special attention to him - as if they knew exactly who he was now and what had happened - opting to stick close to her when they could and keep their distance from him.  She greatly appreciated their comfort and closeness; Vader, on the other hand, was obviously sour at their now detached behavior, making his troopers hustle the little group so that they were not trailing too far behind him.

Padme tried to keep track of the way they were going, in case escape would someday be possible, but soon found that the number of twists and turns they made - combined with the uniformity of the plain white or black hallways lined with doors - made it impossible to even attempt.  Greatly discouraged, she trudged after Vader, only speeding up when he shot back a glare or was prodded in the back by a stormtrooper.

Finally, they arrived at the end of a hall, marked by a single, large black door.  Vader turned, addressing the man behind her.  "Get the senator and the children situated in my chambers."  His hooded head turned just the tiniest bit in her direction.  "I have work to do; I will join them in a few hours.  Be sure that they have everything they need until then."  Without a pause or look back, he was striding off, his cloak billowing behind him.

Padme's alarm spiked as her mind finally registered his words.  Well, of course she was to be put in his chambers . . . what else did she think was going to happen?  That he would lock her away and never touch her again?  

The thought wouldn't have made her afraid in the least if it was Anakin - in fact, she likely would have felt exactly the opposite - but it was Vader she was dealing with. 

And whatever she knew about him and his intentions with her, one thing was clear.

Vader would not take lightly to rejection.

She couldn't wait until tonight.

She had to escape.

Thank you all for the support and love- hope you guys enjoyed!