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Ch. 17-Deceptions
A/N: Hey there! Had a few seconds, so I just posted this up real quick. Thanks to the reviewers: Aximilli2, ILDV, skywalker05, & toocissy4yew! I really appreciate it! Enjoy!
“Tricky wife of mine..” I mumbled, when I noticed the sight in front of me; one I would have thought was rooted in twenty years of hopes, until I noticed the blue aura.
Lying there, in a state of complete peace, was my wife Padme.. dressed in Jedi robes?!
Then it all came flooding back to me… the battle, words, her becoming a Jedi.. it was all so surreal; yet completely true. Though it seems what she did to me backfired upon her, leaving her completely unaware of anything.
I could kill her right now, snuff her life out utterly..
Yet somehow, I can’t. Even as an illusion of the angel that has haunted my dreams for the past twenty years, it would be a sin to slaughter such a perfect creature.
However much I have done beyond even that, it will always be impossible to slay her. Yesterday was perhaps the closest I’ve ever come, no matter how completely attuned to the Dark I had become. Constant whisperings to act as such plagued me during our little conflict, though..
She will be my Empress yet-I can sense it’s truth; Padme is my wife and soul mate. No matter how many times she can steal pieces of my heart and shatter them upon a knifepoint, I still love her.
Though I cannot believe she actually tried to meddle in my memories.. ha! Despite such a long separation, it seems our bond is still just as strong-perhaps more so.
Reaching down to pull back a lock of her soft chocolate hair, I could clearly view in my mind’s eye the twin images of my children..
Luke and Leia, my precious little ones who I thought were dead for so long, live.
Well, not so little; it has been twenty years that were stolen from me. But, to discover from Padme’s memories that they never died; were still alive.. the feeling was wondrous.
Just as shocking was to learn of Padme’s—and Leia’s—Jedi training.. to see both my Senator wife and daughter as a formidable Jedi Knight and Padawan in training? It made for a nice wake-up call, indeed.
Not only to the fact that my wife was—in a way—alive, along with my children, but to finally have proof of what I had always suspected was truth.
Palpatine lied. To his supposed ‘friend’, ‘trusted ally’ and ‘apprentice’. It sickens me to the core—one never deceives their comrades, no matter what the circumstances.
Now, I think I’m going to kill him. Not just for lying to me, oh no..
I hold no doubt from what I saw of her memories that there is a place beyond this, a land of spirits within the Force. Though she was able to hide her teachers’ visages, I could certainly tell they were like her-not of this world.
More proof that I have been hunting for even before that day in the archives of the Jedi long ago..
“Padawan Skywalker, may I assist you?”
While absently staring around the expansive library, I slowly turned my head to face the old Librarian, her face etched with unasked questions as to what I-the infamous Skywalker-happened to want in her domain.
“Master Nu, that won’t be.. hm, perhaps you can. I’m looking for information on the nature of the Force as part of a report for Master Kenobi.”
“Indeed… Well, follow me to this section-it contains some of the oldest teachings of the Order, from the ancient days on Ossus to the battles upon Ruusan.
Pointing a finger at the appropriate shelf, she also replied:
If you need any more help, let myself or one of the junior archivists know. And do give my regards to your Master on his promotion to Knighthood.”
After bowing and replying that I certainly would, I turned to the holocrons-grinning slightly all the while.
Obi Wan never issued such a report… I was simply curious because of something Qui Gon mentioned to me while on the flight to Coruscant.
The Force must be used for right, Anakin. Life, death, Jedi, Sith-it is the will of the Force which we all must heed. Some things are meant to happen, but only will through our choices and actions, never simply fate or destiny.
To possess the ability to use the Force while in death’s grasp.. it would certainly make for interesting circumstances. Immortality never concerned me extremely, but the prospect of all those years to study and train, learning more of the Force.. a pathway to such power intrigues me just as much as when I was ten.
And Sidious claimed to know the way.
Yet, I was always the apprentice, lowly and stupid; utterly beneath his time or trouble beyond as an errand boy. He knew from day one of my enslavement to his will that I would attempt to rebel—the time finally is drawing near.
When he is dead, I shall assume the mantle of Sith Master—with my apprentice standing at my side. As an equal.
Of course, she shall have to be retrained from the Jedi ways; but that won’t take long.
She’s already halfway there, little does she know. But, what to call her…
Reaching within the Force, Vader demanded the powers of Darkness answer his call to portend the future.
One’s name is a very important thing, after all.
As searing pains tore through his blood, Vader could only gasp out at the brilliance of the title…
“Malice.. Darth Malice.. so she shall be known, once deserving of it.”
Barely gaining back his composure, Vader reached down to his sleeping wife and whispered into her ear:
“Ah, my skilled wife. Keep on training with your mysterious mentors—I’ll be waiting for you. Oh.. and do give my regards to Kenobi. You saved his life for the merest fraction of time, love. Sleep well, little Jedi.”
Kissing her cheek, he unsteadily rose to his feet and proceeded toward the kitchen door, smirking ever so slightly to himself.
Though shaken from the past day’s incidents, he had enough strength left in him to make it back aboard the Hawk.
Vader needed to meditate, however much he hated to. No sense in making a plan to overthrow an Empire while drained and lifeless..
Spotting the scorch marks and burns upon the walls as sparks flew from what once was an electrical cord, the memories returned.
Watching Pooja floating in midair, clawing at her throat with complete fear in her eyes, much as she had on Mustafar…
Her husband, blinded by murderous rage, aiming to kill her very soul. The very same look he displayed just after conducting a massacre upon all the Jedi upon Coruscant’s Temple—cleansing it of life.
Feeling the killing intent rise up within her, absolutely ready to annihilate Vader; even at the cost of Anakin’s soul—not even counting her own.
What could have happened, to any of us.. the thought chilled her to the bone.
But, she supposed, at least her family was safe now, despite that brush with the Dark Side.
Yet as Padme’s vision came back into clarity, there was no sleeping Sith Lord nearby.. only emptiness and the faintest sense of..
‘…Sleep well, little Jedi…’
As Anakin’s final words to her rushed back from the recesses of her mind, Padme’s expression crossed between frustration and amusement.
He’d beaten her at the end, yet again, though…
Thankfully Vader was still clueless as to their children’s existence-to she her twins corrupted by him into the Dark…
Unthinkable, yet entirely possible.
But, for now, such challenges stand far away in their futures—and now she had bigger concerns at the moment. Her family was out there, possibly injured, and Padme needed to find them.
If they’re still alive.
Gradually lifting herself from the stone floor, Padme attempted to locate them using the Force. Within seconds, she sensed nine very scared—but quite alive—presences beneath her.
Sighing in relief, she was thankful they’d all made it to the old caverns before Vader caught up with them.. or did he simply let them go? Either way, she had no time for his mind games; her family would have many questions about things since Geonosis.
It was time to answer them, once and for all.
-SidiousSith
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