When Angels Weep

Chapter: 14

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They traveled as sisters, recently widowed. Dormé carried the newly christened Luke and Padmé took Leia. The size of the twins was different enough that they could easily be said older and younger than they were. Padmé had taken advantage of that in the arrangements she'd made. A few more days, she decided, and then they'd part company.

It was too dangerous to stay together much longer. Dormé and Luke would be far safer than she and Leia, for Padmé would also have the two droids in her possession. A sure sign for anyone looking for her.

Anakin had to be getting suspicious. It had been a week now. Surely he'd realized the truth? He must have. She trembled a little at the thought of how blazing hot his anger must have been. She couldn't go back now. Her path was set.

"I'm scared," Dormé whispered, holding a bottle to Luke's mouth, though he wasn't drinking from it.

"I know," she replied, checking their course. They'd arrive at their next to last destination soon, a place she'd been told by that voice to go to. Their stay on Dagobah wouldn't be long. A few minutes at most. The voice had told her finding a place to land would be difficult. Padmé was ready for it. Any challenge to take her mind off of Anakin.

When she managed to sleep, she dreamed of him. Not the stranger, but the man she'd loved. She relived their happy moments. Padmé dreamed and yearned and woke having to squash doubt that this was for the best.

"Are you scared?" Dormé's face showed her fear plainly. "Even a little, my lady?"

Padmé hesitated, then nodded. "I'm terrified. But I can't give in to it yet. I can't let it take me. I need to be strong for them, for you. If I let myself acknowledge it, I'll turn us around and we'll be back to Coruscant before we know it. I'm afraid to go, but I'm more afraid to stay." Afraid of Anakin. Afraid of his temper and those things she knew him capable of.

In an hour, they'd found a semi-stable place to land and Padmé gave Dormé a firm order to remain with the babies. It was with great surprise that she stepped outside to find Jedi Master Yoda waiting for her. She was so relieved to see him she nearly bent down and lifted him in a hug.

When greetings had been dispensed with, Yoda studied her with his wise gaze. "See the children I would like."

Without questioning, Padmé brought first Leia and then Luke out to meet him. Leia was given a quick glance. Luke was looked at a bit longer. Neither child cried, Luke staring right back at the Jedi. Luke kicked his little feet in a happy manner.

Yoda's smile was sad. "Healthy. Strong they are. Yes, very strong."

"Leia's stronger. She's growing so fast. She's always eating or wanting to eat. Luke barely grows. He doesn't eat very much. I've been assured that that'll change.... " Padmé bit her lip to keep from chattering.

"Strong they are," he repeated, then paused, lifting his chin and staring around her.

Padmé turned her head. There was no one on the ramp behind her and she shifted Luke in her arms. "I'd better take him back inside." Dormé appeared immediately to take him and when Padmé returned, Yoda was nodding his head as though listening to someone speak. She opened her mouth to say something, but he was speaking instead.

"Go you must. With you, the Force will be."

A strange exchange and one that reassured her somehow. Padmé straightened her shoulders and walked back into the ship. The presence that had been with her periodically was in the ship now, so strong that Padmé took a moment to look through the nooks and crannies as Dormé flew them up from Dagobah. There was no one and yet, somehow, there was.

"Goodbye, Master Yoda," she whispered, and a comforting phantom hand pressed to her temple. Padmé sighed and took a seat.

~~~~~~~~~~

Obi-Wan was on the ramp. "I'll go with the boy," he said, "Since Padmé had the sense to take the lightsaber for him. I'll stay with him, watch over him."

Yoda nodded, in full agreement. Obi-Wan was loyal and dedicated. He'd take good care of Luke despite his corporeal limitations.

Qui-Gon sighed. "And I shall keep with our Padmé. She's not out of danger yet."

Padmé was resourceful, more so than most people and her timing was absolutely perfect. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had been keeping him informed about events. Skywalker's continuing descent struck chords of such sadness inside him, an ongoing pain that he'd learned to live with. Right now, Yoda felt every one of his long years of age. Well, he decided, they would wait. They would watch events unfold and be patient. When the time was right, the dark side would fall to ruin and Palpatine would be defeated.

Some day.

He had hope and that hope rested in two children.

Yoda watched the ship lift off, carrying with it two Jedi that no longer lived.

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HoloNet News:

"The search for Padmé Skywalker continues. No ransom demands have been given as of yet. When asked to comment, her husband stated that those responsible for this crime will be shown no mercy."

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"This has to be where we part ways." Padmé was resigned to this turn and more than sad to send her son and handmaiden away. Dormé would take Luke to Tatooine. Padmé doubted Anakin would go there, not with the emotional pain connected to the place. She was counting on him wanting to avoid emotional pain like he always did. He wouldn't think to look there and she'd arranged it so that Owen and Beru Lars could call Luke their own if they wished.

"I know, my lady." Dormé handed Luke to her and Padmé gladly took him.

She held her son for what Padmé instinctively knew was the last time, holding him against her. "There is still good in him. There is still good in Anakin. I know there is."

The other woman didn't reply. Padmé knew Dormé had come to believe Anakin was evil through and through. She didn't see the flashes of Annie in his eyes. She wasn't close enough to see it.

"You know what you have to do?" Luke rested his cheek against hers, his hand in her hair. She cradled his head in her palm and willed herself not to cry.

"You can count on me."

Her tears were rising, she could feel them about to burst free. No, Padmé thought. I can't cry yet. Not again. Be strong. "I know I can. Be safe. Hide on a planet in the Outer Rim and never go back to Coruscant. Promise me that. Promise me you'll never go back, Dormé."

Dormé took Luke, set him with Leia and enfolded Padmé in a warm hug. "Oh, we'll be fine Luke and I. And you'll be fine. He won't find any of us, Padmé. Your plan had no loopholes. He won't find us. The galaxy is huge and we are only two women, two children and two droids."

She suppressed a feeling of guilt. Dormé didn't know where she was taking Leia or what Padmé's own plans were for after that. She'd neglected to tell Dormé of that. The only thing Dormé had was a way to reach her if anything went wrong. She hated to consider any of the plan failing. Padmé stepped back. "Go, before I lose my nerve."

Dormé bent, lifted Luke, then the bag they'd bought for them. It was filled with new clothes and a few supplies. Dormé was taking the public travel route to Tatooine, leaving Padmé the ship. In minutes, she was gone.

It wasn't until Padmé was once more in space that she realized Dormé had never promised and that her handmaiden had looked guilty of something herself. "Keep them safe," she whispered. "Please, just keep them safe."

Don't let Dormé do anything foolish.

~~~~~~~~~~

The board was still set, pieces laid out in the final positions they'd ended in. Neither Padmé nor Dormé had put it away and he'd been concerned with other, more pressing matters, like his wife's disappearance to bother with a game board. Anakin sank into the chair Padmé had taken that night, his shoulders slumped, hands limp in his lap.

He closed his eyes for a brief second. Weariness was a normal operating mode for him the past few days. He'd been following up lead after lead and coming up empty. Nothing panned out. The cloak was Dormé's, the circuits Threepio's.

Eight days and no trace of her. No trace of any of them. It was as though Coruscant had opened up and swallowed them whole.

Anakin rubbed a hand across his face and through his hair. He missed her so much and he couldn't figure out just how they'd been taken. All of them whisked away under the watch of an entire crowd. There should have been a hundred witnesses aside from the security cameras and there were none. He was missing something. The investigators were missing something, he was certain of it. There was a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that he was looking right at the answer to the mystery. What wasn't being seen?

Anakin dreaded their bodies being found. Images of Padmé, her body lifeless and eyes staring, haunted him day and night. His nightmares had once more returned, graphic and terrifying. Her body slumped and staring, her body charred by fire. Anakin blinked, forcing those sorts of thoughts from him. He turned his gaze to the board.

A game before I go.

He'd needed that time with her alone before the trip Palpatine had arranged. He'd needed to relax with her, make up for his earlier display of temper. He hadn't meant to accuse her, only to ask her if any of it was truth, yet somehow he'd been defensive from the get-go, demanding answers. Padmé never responded well to demands, least of all the sort of forceful ones he'd been full of and they'd been in a fight before he knew it. He hadn't meant to shove her as hard as he had. He'd only meant to put her from him.

He remembered her stumbling against the divan and sucked in a breath. She'd forgiven him. She'd accepted his apology and he'd still wanted to make it up to her. Time together, playing a game.

Anakin looked at the pieces, seeing her slender, pale fingers picking them up and moving them, her dark eyes surveying the pieces with the same cool gaze she'd used in the Senate. His brow furrowed. The pieces.... Anakin blinked slowly, head tilting. Something about the pieces bothered him and he couldn't quite isolate what. The puzzle of that teased at him.

She hadn't wanted to play, reluctant as usual, but she'd consented to a single game. How happy that had made him! Anakin managed a little smile now. He'd been hard pressed to keep his eyes on the game and off of her. He'd enjoyed watching her in deep thought, her tongue occasionally slipping out to be caught between her teeth and that tiny frown before she made a move. Dormé had not exaggerated Padmé's skill and the game had gone on far longer than he'd initially anticipated. He recalled wondering on her seemingly erratic strategies, watching with curious eyes as she split up her forces.

He'd won before he'd gotten any answers on her tactics.

Staring at those pieces now, he noticed something he'd not previously seen, his smile fading. With rising interest, Anakin's gaze traveled the board, taking in the positions of all their pieces and then the winning quadrant of the board. He noted everything, saw what had not been seen and began to put it all together.

Oh Padmé, he thought. You beautiful, devious woman.

Vader sat up, leaned over the board, studying those pieces.

This game was similar to chess, with pieces of similar value. However, there were levels of playing pieces within the levels and the board was not made up of squares. It was set up to resemble a map of the galaxy and certain systems were more valuable to capture than others. The object of the game was like chess as well, to capture the leader piece.

Unlike chess, three pieces had equal power and if one of those pieces fell, then defeat was almost certain. Almost. If the other two were maneuvered properly, an endangered opponent could still win the game.

Padmé had won. He'd captured one piece, but she'd outmaneuvered him on the rest of the board. She'd bowed from the game, conceded defeat when by rights she could have struck and destroyed his army in one move. She'd turned the tables. She'd had all the power and she'd surrendered.

Why? He couldn't understand why. What had she to gain by putting herself into danger and then surrendering when she could have won? It made no sense. And how had he not seen it?

One brow raised. Simple. She'd lured his pieces into one quadrant. Victory could have been hers and she'd let him win instead.

Padmé let him win, lured him away, let him think she was no threat, let him....

His eyes widened and he returned his attention to her central command center. The piece he'd captured was missing, plucked from danger. Plucked from.... Vader blinked.

You're not my husband.

I won't be a party to a dictatorship.

No, she wouldn't would she? Padmé breathed democracy. She would not consent to ruling without her beloved, broken democracy. One person could not know what was best for an entire galaxy she would argue.

His wife was not kidnapped. The certainty of that slammed over him as a speeder on full throttle.

Vader got up, began to walk through the apartment, searching for any Force impressions left. He found Shmi and little Annie, then Padmé and.... He found Dormé, an impression still steeped with feeling. Fear, great fear. He could practically see her looking at the apartment, calling out for Padmé, her voice panicked.

Padmé had seemed so very sad the next morning when she saw him off, looking at him as though she'd never see him again Her arms around him, her desperate kiss.

When I return, he'd said, we'll have a rematch.

Yes, her reply had come. We'll rematch.

Rematch. Solemn and serious.

There were no real clues because she'd planned it that way. No one had seen anything because she'd planned the diversion, planned how to stay out of sight. Hidden. She'd planned everything, lulled him into thinking she was back with him and all the while she was plotting. Plotting. Palpatine was right.

Vader let out a guttural cry that pierced the silence.

Padmé had run from him. That night, she'd had it planned. How soon after he'd gone had she left him? Had she even waited until he was off-planet? And who dared to help her?

I will miss you with all of my heart each day that we are parted.

"Liar," he snarled. Striding to the board, he picked it up and threw it as hard as he could across the room. Playing pieces scattered about the carpet.

"You can run, but you can't hide," he yelled. "I'll find you Padmé. I promise you that!"

To punctuate his vow, every piece of glass in the apartment exploded, raining shards about the rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~

Palpatine stared at the boy. He was insisting on continuing the search as Palpatine had known he would. "Why will she come back," he asked, knowing the answer already. What was in Vader's possession would remain his even if he tired of it.

"She will come back because it is where she belongs."

"Do you still love her then, even after this? She left you. She betrayed your trust in her."

Vader's face showed no emotion though Palpatine could sense the delicious boiling roil of them inside Vader. "Love is irrelevant. She's my wife. Padmé is mine and I will keep what is mine. She will come back whether she wishes to or not. A person cannot disappear without a trace. There is something and now that I know the truth, I can more accurately narrow the search to find her. There are resources I can use."

He gave a slow nod. "Very well, Vader. Search for your wife. Work with Tarkin. Divide your efforts between her and the rebels."

~~~~~~~~~~

HoloNet News:

"This case has become one of the most high profile disappearances in recent history. No ransom, no contact of any kind and no bodies found. These two women and children simply vanished. The official search has been called off. However, Anakin assures us that a team of investigators will be continuing a private search around the clock. He will not rest until she is returned."