Saga "Forever" - Vader/Padmé AU, Intertrilogy, ****Complete 9/10/05**** Up for Best Romance

Title: "Forever"
Author(s): Siaynoqsbride
Timeframe: Ten years after RotS
Characters: Vader, Padmé, Sidious
Genre: Angst, Romance
Summary: Padmé has been imprisoned by Sidious for ten years. She wakes and is tortured to reveal all she knows about Vader's offspring.
Notes: Ok, here we go! My first major fic here, and I'm kind of scared, but also excited. I'll probably update this every other day or something like that. Enjoy, and please leave feedback! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

She was trapped in a labyrinth of corridors that twisted madly before her eyes, weirdly spinning in and out of focus. There was gray, untarnished metal all around her. She heard distantly faint crying, and she knew it instantly, as if it was a part of her soul.

?Leia,? she whispered distantly, hearing her own voice faintly. She tried to walk forward, but found that her feet would not obey her commands. The crying intensified, and became almost painful to Padmé?s ears. She started to cry out in anger, her anxious pleas mingling with her daughter?s. She took one halting step forward, breaking hesitantly through whatever barrier had been there before.

She walked faster and faster until she was running with fear and desperation, her feet pounding against steel as she raced urgently to her daughter. Suddenly, the crying shifted to another direction. She turned, not hesitating for a second, and began to run in the direction she heard. The crying reached an escalation, forcing tears to run down Padmé?s cheeks, and then suddenly stopped.

She spun wildly, seeing only more generic, uncaring metal around her. There was nothing to mark her passage, nothing to show what direction she had come from.

?Leia!? She shrieked, her voice suddenly loud and piercing.

"Leia!"

There was breathing behind her; an onerous, mechanical noise. She turned around slowly with dread, not knowing what new nightmare had come, determined to break her.

The black face of an inhuman demon stood before her, clad in dark armor and a flowing, ebony cloak that seemed to blend in with the shadows. She wanted to scream at this new menace and beat her hands at it, but she did not have the strength. It was something she had never seen before, but it was the face of her nightmares.

?Where is my daughter,? she whispered raggedly.

?Our daughter,? the figure corrected in a deep, threatening voice that did nothing to assuage her fears.

The thought that this abomination would dare to call itself Anakin Skywalker tore at her mind, raking across damaged nerves. Agony tore at her in a way that no physical wounds could.

?No!? she howled in a voice that seemed to only convey the merest shattering of her soul.

The thing that dared to pretend it once had been her husband folded its arms across its chest.

?She is mine now. She will become a Sith and rule the galaxy with me... forever,? it said impassively, no inflections of emotion present. Padmé stepped back, horrified that this was what her husband had come to, that this monster was him..

Padmé wanted to tell the atrocity of a man that it could take her, that she would exchange her life for her daughter?s. But she could not speak as she suddenly felt invisible fingers clamping her throat shut, snuffing her life out...

Padmé woke suddenly, gasping the air which had been denied to her just seconds earlier. It took a moment for her to distinguish from her dream and reality, for everything was just as dark and despairing.

A table. She was laying on a metal table. She tried to move and found that binders held her securely in a tight embrace that she could not get out of. She decided not to struggle and saver her strength.

She closed her eyes and tried desperately to remember how she had got here. A sense of panic pervaded her consciousness, fogging her attempts of memory.

At last she remembered, piercing through the fog with sudden clarity that she began to wish she had not discovered...

She was traveling to Mustafar, Obi-Wan?s lies echoing cle

 

Ooh, very interesting premise! I hope Vader will be able to get to Padme in time and save her before... well, before.

Uppies!

jazz

 

Jazz_Skywalker - Thanks! Yes, you will have to wait and see. This is slightly dark, however.

 

So, Padmé's been asleep for the past decade and Vader thought she was dead? Cool. Interested to see where you're taking this.


When there was no response, she knew then that she was alone, and that all she had were the meager defenses of her own mind.

Poor Padmé.

 

Jedi_Anais - Yes, that's the idea. Glad you like it! It will get a little dark, but after that kind of happy. Kinda. Yes, poor Padmé indeed.

 

It is not possible, his mind whispered. I... killed her long ago. She is dead. He wondered, not for the first time, if the Force was playing a cruel, bitter game of tempting him with her, only for him to find out that she was still dead.

Poor Vader. I loved that paragraph though. He's suited right?
Interesting start.

 

Very interesting start. I love Vader/Padme stories. Please continue!

 

i hate palpatine,in the real SW story and on this fiction stories as well,please whoever wrote this have Vader kick palps butt.

 

Oh no! Palpatine has Padme...that's definitely not a good thing. I just hope that she will eventually be all right and that Vader rescues her. And I hate to think of what Palpatine is planning...

Interesting idea, and well-written. Good job!

 

Lieutenant_Jaina- Thanks! Glad you liked it. Yes, Vader is suited.

Dally- Thanks! I love Vader/Padme too, which inspired me to write this. I will update either tomorrow or Monday.

sithrules70- I dislike Palpaltine as well. Unfortunately, things will not go well for a while.

Alethia- Thanks! Yeah, Palpaltine's plans are not good for anyone except himself.

 

Chapter Two

Lord Vader leaned back inside his personal quarters. He was not awaiting orders or doing anything else productive, or so it seemed. He was remembering. All the memories that came at her presence flooded through his head in a tide that had been repressed for a long time, shoved back until they could no longer harass him. But now, they were here, and he was powerless against the strength of his own thoughts.

She leaned back against him, relaxing quietly for a moment. They never got enough time together, due to obligations neither could get out of. It made the times when they could be together all the more precious. It was all Anakin thought about when he was away.

He smelled in the scent of her hair, which always smelled of gentle tranquility to him.

Vader closed his eyes and pretended, just for a moment, that he could feel still, and imagined her hair against his face, soft and lightly scented of Naboo flowers.

His hand slowly trailed the length of her side to rest on her stomach, where he knew grew the daughter they wanted. He closed his eyes, then not a Jedi Knight or anything else, simply a soon-to-be father and husband. He drank in the peace of the moment, basking in the light of the setting sun on Coruscant. He reached out to her with both his mind and his arms, sheltering her. Everything was at peace then.

?Anakin,? Padmé whispered, disrupting his moment of peace. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before gently cupping her face in the palm of his hand.

He did not want to meet her glance right away, for he knew it would bring trouble. She wanted to talk about the future, when he wanted to relish in the moment. He could not avoid her any longer, and so turned his gaze to her.

?Anakin,? she whispered again, her eyes almost overflowing with tears, ?What are we going to do? We have to face this.?

He turned away, not wanting to answer her question.

?Padmé,? he murmured gently. ?It doesn?t matter. You are here with me, and as long as you are here, I don?t need anything else. All I need is you, and the baby. That?s all I want. The galaxy can save itself,? he said in a moment of selfish rebellion. She was taken aback.

?Anakin, please. I remember the little boy on Tatooine, who looked towards the stars at night. I know how much being a Jedi means to you, and you know how much you matter to me. You are a hero, love.?

A single tear rolled down Vader?s cheek. I have failed, beloved. Not only have I failed you, but my mother. I have failed myself and everyone I ever cared about. I am no hero. I never was. All I wanted was you. I would have left the Jedi in an instant if it could have saved you.

He tried to take her into his arms again, but she resisted, wanting instead to talk.

?No, Anakin! What are we going to do??

He finally decided to face her, turning his full concentration to the issues she presented.

?We do not have much time together, love. Why do you insist on worrying? Everything will turn out fine.? He reached down to caress her extended belly, closing his eyes in a perfect dream. ?I will be able to raise my children with you, and we will grow very old together, until the last of our days. We will be a family, Padmé.?

Her brow furrowed once and then she relaxed, although there was still a preoccupied look in her eye. Anakin massaged her shoulders gently, feeling the tension that had accumulated in the months he had been away.

He whispered to her, ?Don?t worry. Everything will be alright, in the end. Trust me. I will protect you.?

For a moment, Vader was standing strapped to the table, learning for the first time that it was he who caused the death of the one person he had sworn to always protect. His anguished yell echoed again... and again. He leaned against the wall, reliving that moment of pure anguish.

That was why he was so stunned by the fact that she could be alive. He stood for a moment, trying to warp his mind around the mere thought that she could live. He had spent a decade of fee

 

Really good so far, in the last chapter you can really feel the turmoil and conflict within Vader.
I'll be sure to keep my eye on this

 

Really good! Your writing flows really nice between transitions and you are doing an excellent job of capturing Vader. If you get a chance please PM me when you update next! I don't want to loose track of this fiction. I have a passion for Vader stories.

 

Wow, the end here was awesome! I can't wait for that confrontation when he finds out it was Palpatine that was hurting Padme! You write Vader very well, and his memories, too!

uppies!

jazz

 

He did not want to meet her glance right away, for he knew it would bring trouble. She wanted to talk about the future, when he wanted to relish in the moment.

You have Anakin down pat with that.

I loved the ending. It'll be quite a shock for him when he finds out who 'harmed' her, eh?


UP!

 

Thanks for the PM! Good chapter!

 

You have definitely caught my attention with this one! You are doing really good and I would love to get a PM when you post again!!

 

I LOVE the way you describe everything the character feels, and the flashbacks were truly beautiful. Great job, I can't wait for more!

 

Wow! Thanks to everyone who replied! This week will be kind of busy for me, so updating might be a little slow.

iLoveAnakin7- I'm glad you like it! Thanks! I'll send you a PM when I update.

InLoveWithLordVader- Thank you! I love Vader stories too, and due to some amazing authors, I decided to post this. I will PM you when I update.

Jazz_Skywalker- Thank you! Yes, the confrontation between Palpaltine and Vader will be interesting.

Jedi_Anais - Thanks for the up! Yes, that is how I always saw Anakin. Not wanting to think of the future and just kind of relaxing the best he could. It will indeed be a shock...

Dally - You're welcome and thanks!

Anakins-girl - Thank you! I'm glad that I was able to catch your attention. I would be happy to send off a pm the next time I update.

Lieutenant_Jaina- Aww, thanks! Hopefully I will be able to update soon.

 

Here is this chapter, with a little warning; it des get slightly darker from here on, but it will get better eventually.
------
Padmé was dimly aware of the convulsions the needles sent her body into, her limbs wanting to flay madly and being kept bound tightly, her head hitting the metal hard, but not hard enough for her to black out. She could feel the war as her body raged against the drugs implanted in her system, drugs sent to take what the shadow was having difficulty getting. She could feel the pain from every screaming nerve as needles pierced her skin over and over again, filling her system with drugs designed to penetrate her mind.

But she could not allow herself the luxury of becoming distracted from the secrets she did not know away from the man who would use them to destroy her children. She did not focus on the pain, because she could not. Her body screamed for her to focus full her full attention on it, but she did not. Instead, she kept a constant vigil against the shadow, always keeping it away from her center.

It had already penetrated several layers of her mind, breaking into her memories of private moments and looking through them after discarding them to dig deeper. The shadow was immensely strong and powerful, and she could feel it pressing against her, fighting her at every turn. She could not let her guard down for even one instant.

Give in, it whispered in her head. Give in to me, and I will leave you in peace. Let me see behind these barriers; you know it is useless to fight me.

She ignored it as best she could and concentrated on weaving a thicker defense around her unconscious mind, wreathing it with memories of everything she knew of the Jedi. She had stood in the shadows, observing Anakin meditating, and he had taught her a few things. She clung to them desperately, knowing they were the only things that could save her.

Ahh, the shadow whispered. You want to know about Anakin, then.

Instantly, she began seeing the man she recognized to be her husband. She saw Jedi younglings, innocents. A blond-haired boy asked, tears filling his eyes, ?Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?? Padmé saw him ignite his lightsaber with a grim look on his face, raising it. No, she thought, searching for a way that this could not be possible. No. Not my Anakin. When he cut down the first child, she screamed, not only in her mind, but in reality, her anguish reverberating around the large room, echoing in her ears shrilly.

No more, she begged the shadow. I cannot bear it. She felt the shadow?s triumph and amusement then. It tasted like ash in her mouth.

Then relinquish your defenses. Padmé knew that if she did so, she would be dooming her children to the life of her husband. She felt a brief pang of hurt, stunning in its intensity, but then shoved it behind the defenses that she had set up.

The shadow knew her defiance. She felt its frustration, and prepared herself for an onslaught. She screamed again as it showed her more of Anakin?s sins...
------
Lord Vader staggered under a new assault of blinding pain and mental agony. He was on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, and so all his men saw his moment of temporary weakness. None of them moved to help him; they were all too stunned that the immovable Vader had shown even a temporary sign of vulnerability.

But in the world that Vader was seeing, there was nothing but her face, twisted in a shape of agony even more powerful then when he had seen her in dreams. He saw her writhe and scream, held by restraints that kept her from harming herself. Not only did he see her, he felt everything she felt; her sense of betrayal and panic, the feeling of being alone and conquered.

He did not realize that he was going to speak until the word erupted from his lips, far louder and more powerful then he would have intended it to be. If he still could speak with a normal voice, the sound would have been raw, but instead it was mechanical, mocking him even as he screamed her name in pain.

 

Dark indeed, but adding richness to the fic. I loved this chapter, it's my favourite so far. I do hope Vader finds her in time

 

I'm really enjoying this and looking forward to more.

 

Ditto that.

It is getting darker, but it's a a good darker and enhances the story. You write both Vader and Padme very well!

Uppies!

jazz

 

It is dark, but it's coming along great. I also hope that Vader finds Padmé in time, but I'm more curious to see how you play out their reacquaintence. I mean, now that she knows what he did, what will they do? They can't go back to the way they were. *sigh* I guess I'll have to exercise my patience for now.


UP!

 

*gasps* Beautiful fic! You do a fantastic job of conveying emotions and using detail...it's amazing.

Go Vader...save her!!!