"No." Her Savior commanded angrily, "Get away from her." "You do not control me!" Vader snarled, reciprocating the same amount of anger, "I control you."
"Get away from her!" Her Savior repeated, taking a step closer towards the pair that stood before him.
Moments passed, the two black knights locked in a silent duel. Padme wasn't sure what was happening, but she knew to remain silent, and thankfully, to her relief, the duel did end.
It ended when Vader let out a deep growl and lowered his hand. "This isn't the end. You'll be gone soon enough." Vader said to the man in front of him, before turning and stalking into the night.
In an attempt to cover herself and in a moment of weakness, Padme ran to her Savior. She hugged him tightly, making sure to get her arms underneath his cloak to hide her naked body. She snuggled her face into his body and she breathed in his sweet scent, instantly feeling relief. It was him, her Savior. However, her Savior or not, Padme had expected him to push her away or scold her, but he did not push her away. Instead, he almost twisted his stance to allow her to come closer.
"Are you unharmed?" He asked caringly.
He cared. He cared. He cared. Padme heard it in his voice. He cared about her. She could hear it his voice, feel it in his touch, she had seen it in his actions. He cared about her!
"Senator?" Vader asked concerned.
Padme tried, but she could not respond. She couldn't move. She was stuck. Frozen. It was all fading. It was all becoming blackness.
"Senator." Her Savior repeated his voice higher than before, "Senator." "Senator. Senator!" An annoyed voice snapped from beside her as she opened her eyes, "Wake up. Wake up!"
Utter confusion overtook Padme for a long moment before it all came flooding back. As soon as it did, Padme sat up with a jolt as she began to feel over her body. She was clothed and in her bed. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, but she was safe. She glanced around fearfully in confusion, quickly realizing that it had all been a dream.
"Senator?" Vader said again, his voice almost filled with concern. Almost.
Padme slowly looked towards the Sith that stood beside her bed as a small frown overtook her features. "Lord Vader?" She asked confused, "Why are you here?"
"You were screaming in your sleep." He said, backing away from the side of her bed to retreat into the further darkness, where it was hard for her eyes to follow, "I could hear you from clear across my establishments."
"Oh… " Padme said, her voice still confused, "What time it is?"
"It's very early morning." Vader responded, his voice holding all the authority of a parent scolding a child, "Too early for you to be awake. "
"Then why are you awake?" Padme challenged, before she could help herself.
"That is none of your concern."
His response caused her to snap, all emotions flooding back into her mind. "It is my concern when every time you seem to leave your establishments someone I know dies!" Padme screamed, the fear and pain he caused finally overtaking her.
Somewhere from the darkness, Padme heard Vader groan, before he explained, "If you must know, Senator, I have not left my establishments since returning sometime after you. I was in my own room when I heard you."
The relief overwhelmed her. Still, the fear from before remained. She feared anything would set him off again. She feared he would lose his temper with her for her mental breakdown and keeping him awake, but as the tears continued to stroll down her face, he said nothing. She just continued to cry and he did absolutely nothing. He was not angry, he did not try to comfort her, he did not scold her; he simply let her be.
"I'm sorry." Padme finally managed to say between tears.
"Why are you apologizing?" Vader asked, his voice uncharacteristically confused.
"I just– just…" Padme wheezed, not sure what to say. She was freighted, scared of him. The memories of what he had done earlier to the five men still fresh in her mind, always replaying, never stopping.
"Senator, if I was planning on harming you," Vader groaned annoyed, "I would have done it by now."
"You have harmed me." Padme cried, chocking on her sobs, as her mind turned to the most recent event, ""You keep harming me. You were going to…"
"That was a dream, Senator." Vader snapped angrily, "I didn't try to rape you."
"It was so real." Padme whispered as she shook her head, desperately trying to clear her mind, "How do I –"
"If that was me," Vader pressed, "Why would I invade your mind to stop myself?"
Padme froze, slowly turning her head in his direction. "You… what?" She asked shocked, feeling her eyes widen at his confession. Vader was silent, and Padme could tell that he had not meant to reveal his secret.
Still, Padme wasn't going to let it slide that easy.
"That was really you?" Padme pressed, trying to stare down from where she thought he stood in the darkness, "That saved me?"
Vader still remained silent, lost in the darkness.
Padme shook her head, bringing her knees up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them for support. "Why do you keep doing this to me?" She cried in confusion, "Just pick if you're going to kill me or save me. Just stop torturing me! Just stop all this confusion. I can't take it." Padme paused allowing herself time to control her tears. When she was satisfied, she finally looked up and towards his direction in the dark, "I want to hate you so badly and I hate myself that I don't." "You do hate me, Senator." Vader corrected, his voice telling her it was the truth.
But Padme knew the real truth.
"No." Padme said sternly, "No, I don't. Don't tell me how I feel Lord Vader because I know how I feel. You find it incredibly easy to hate me, but the feeling is not mutual."
Vader was silent again, choosing not to speak, so Padme decided to continue.
"I'm scared of you." She whispered, "I'm deathly scared of you."
"You are right to be scared." Vader agreed quickly, "Everyone is."
"I know, and I should be." Padme agreed, before shaking her head, "But that's just it. I'm not like everyone." She paused, looking away from the darkness to lay her head on top of her knees, "I'm scared of you. Scared of your power. Scared of what you're capable of. I hate the darkness inside of you. I hate the crimes you have committed, and everything you stand for." She paused again, almost laughing at herself, "But no matter how hard I try, something, won't let me hate you. Something tells me there is more to you; something won't let me give up on you, and I wish more than anything that I could. I wish more than anything that when I say that I hate you that I truly mean it. I wish…"
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