When Angels Weep

Chapter: 6

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He was alone in the Temple, Padmé knew that. Anakin was the only one who ever went there. Why? Did he go out of a guilty conscience? Or because even though he'd made it a place of violence, there was still something soothing for him in its halls?

She walked the corridors, her once graceful walk turned into a slow waddle, making her way about the Jedi Temple with Dormé trailing along behind her. Padmé tried not to dwell on the reason she'd come to seek him out midday. She had to keep looking forward in order to see a way from the cage being settled about her. They did not hurry because there was no reason to. She'd known this day would come eventually. It was a foregone conclusion once she'd realized she was being manipulated into vulnerability. It had to happen.

Padmé felt peace here, no lingering echoes of the violence that had occurred. The Temple was a welcoming place, a refuge. Even she could sense that.

After nearly half an hour, they found him in one large room. He was practicing with his lightsaber, going through a complex series of movements that were so fluid they appeared a graceful dance. Alone. No opponent blocked him, egged him on with friendly banter.

She tilted her head, considering him. Did he miss having a sparring partner for this? Did he miss Obi-Wan at all? Or had he buried him in memory, never to be thought of again?

Suddenly, Anakin stopped and straightened, back to her.

Did he regret those choices he'd made? Was she going to regret hers?

Anakin turned his head, not quite looking over his shoulder at her. "What are you doing here, Padmé?"

"Can't a wife look for her husband," she countered.

"Depends on why she's looking for him," was the dry response. Now he turned, deactivating his lightsaber and attaching it to his belt as he strode towards her. "Could it possibly be for a wanting of my company? Have you chosen by free will to come into my presence?" There was a cynical turn to his brow. "No, I suspect otherwise." His hands raised, cupped her face. "You shouldn't have come here."

"Why not?"

The question was ignored, his hands moving now, to her shoulders and down her arms. "Why are you looking for me at this time of day? Don't you have Senatorial duties you should be seeing to?" A glance was slanted towards Dormé, who retreated back into the hallway in slow steps, giving them privacy to speak.

Padmé blinked. Hadn't Palpatine told him of Queen Apailana's decision? She'd thought for certain Palpatine had told him, that that was the reason Anakin been almost loving the past couple days. She looked down towards the floor, or rather where it would be if her stomach didn't block the view. "My duties as Senator are limited as of the interview we gave, Anakin. I'm not going to be allowed to continue serving. By next year, I'll no longer be a Senator."

He released her, blinking several times. "Why," he demanded.

Did he honestly not know? Had he ever listened to her at all?

"You're fully capable of serving and being a wife and mother. Other Senators do it. Why remove you from it?"

"Our marriage is not the issue in her decision, nor is my pregnancy. I hid things. That is the issue. I lied to my Queen, to the Jedi, to my family, to everybody. What sort of example am I now to the people of Naboo? They look at me and see deceit. Had I discovered such a thing when I was Queen, my actions would have been far less lenient than hers. She's giving me time to tie up loose ends, to show my replacement what needs to be finished. She's within her rights to demand I step down immediately."

"Well, she's wrong," he yelled. "You're the best woman to happen to the planet, to this galaxy. To ask you to step down, to order you.... It's an insult. She can't do that to you. I won't let her."

"Anakin calm down." He was working himself up over something she'd already come to grips with, over something he'd wanted. She'd known full well Anakin had dreamed of her resigning as Senator and spending her time with him. So why was he now angry over it happening? Shouldn't he be overjoyed? At the same time, shouldn't he have known she could be dismissed by her Queen? His outburst confused her and Padmé hastened to say something to calm him. "I'll be able to devote more time to our babies when they come. That's a good thing, yes?"

He stilled at her lilted 'yes' in question. His stare was uncertain at first, then grew in confidence as he warmed to the thought. "Of course it's a good thing, my love, but at the expense of your political career? I know how very much your career means to you." A raised brow to punctuate the statement.

"Perhaps my priorities should change," she whispered.

"Perhaps," he agreed. "But only momentarily. When we take the throne," he began, then shook his head as though to banish that train of thought. "Is that the reason you came, to tell me of her decision?"

"No." Padmé glanced toward the hallway and back at him. Though expecting this maneuver she had to discuss, it still disturbed her. "My accounts. I asked Dormé to purchase a few items for me and she had to use credits from her own account. The merchant was unable to take payment from mine."

He took a step back, then another, that infuriatingly condescending expression taking root and blossoming. She could swear she saw satisfaction there as well. "I am sorry about that Padmé. I'll see Dormé is reimbursed."

"You'll see? I should see to it. They're my accounts. It never should have happened in the first place and when I asked about the problem, I was told to talk to my husband." She snorted. "As though I've not been handling my own accounts for years."

Anakin turned, striding across the room away from her. Padmé followed, stretching a hand out in an attempt to grab his shirt and missing.

"What is this about, Anakin? Answer me!"

He whirled. "Was that an order, Padmé? Because you're not in a position to order me."

"Tell me what's going on," she insisted, ignoring the prickle of unease at her neck.

His arms crossed over his chest. "The Delegation. The two thousand. Remember that?"

"What about it?" Her mind had already grasped the situation. Desperately, she hoped she was wrong, that she wasn't being punished for honest concerns and action.

"Until the Emperor is certain of your loyalty, your accounts have been transferred to my control. Purchases must be approved before you will have access to the credits."

"He can't do that," she protested.

"He already has. I'll need to see the purchases and then I'll transfer the credits to Dormé's account."

"That's not right!"

"Isn't it, my love? I'd say he has every right to freeze assets until he's certain of loyalty, yours included." She was speechless at that and he continued. "It's temporary, Padmé. I'll convince him of your loyalty and it will all work out."

She back away, shaking her head. "Am I the only one?"

"Of course not. Bail Organa has already been cleared and a few of the others. It won't take long before you're cleared as well."

What better way to curtail movements of possible dissenters than to freeze their accounts? No access to credits meant no way to pay for anything. "This is not right and you know it."

"How isn't it right? You're not destitute. You still have access through me, which is more than others have. You know, you're lucky you're my wife. I will take care of you."

That's what she was afraid of. Without answering, Padmé whirled, fleeing as fast as she could and almost stumbling twice in her haste. Anakin didn't try to stop her. Why would he? He knew he could continue the conversation in the apartment later if he chose. And he would continue, if it suited him to do so.

~~~~~~~~~~

Poor, poor Padmé. She must be feeling panicked right about now, all sealed off in her penthouse apartment with one friend left and no funds to get her anywhere. Soon, she'd learn of her loss of her ship as well. Poor, poor Padmé. No one to turn to, no place to run.

Palpatine listened to Vader's concerns about her with only half an ear. His plans for her were going rather well, moving much faster than he'd anticipated. He was also pleased that Vader had Dormé well in hand, using the handmaiden to spy on Padmé. She was cooperating, completely under Vader's control.

Perhaps. The boy certainly seemed to think so, yet Palpatine knew Dormé to be a particularly strong-willed bodyguard. She was the most loyal of those handmaidens Padmé had employed and it was a pity she hadn't been the one to perish in the accident. Vader needed to keep a close watch on her as well as Padmé or he was going to find the tables turned. Dormé was not stupid, nor would she be charmed by Vader for much longer.

Vader hadn't the ability to keep her that way and wouldn't for a long while. His skills were still piddling compared to Palpatine's own talents. Vader wasn't as adept as he thought he was, but then Palpatine could use that pride and arrogance against him, keeping him in line.

He glanced at Vader, disgusted to see still so much of Anakin remaining. Really, Vader needed a strong push now and then to break down what was left of Anakin. It was almost as though Anakin was putting up a fight, giving Vader a conscience. That had to be stopped and quickly.

"She needs a firm hand," he suggested, cutting off whatever whining the boy was doing now. "She needs guidance. Too long, Padmé was left to run her own life. Obviously she cannot cope. She has gotten herself removed as a Senator. What other proof is needed of her incompetence with running her life? The only right thing she has done is to marry you."

Vader leaned forward, eagerly taking in the words. Palpatine suppressed a grin. Vader was too easy to manipulate, just as Anakin had been. "She's not incompetent." He didn't sound sure of that, however. "Padmé is very capable --"

"Perhaps that was too harsh a word," Palpatine amended. "She has, without question, made a mess of her life. Look at it, my boy."

The young man before him gave a slow nod, licking his lips. "She has made a mess of her life," he agreed.

"You will give her the guidance she needs, show her how to behave in a manner befitting the wife of a Sith."

"I will guide her."

Palpatine smiled. "Good, good. Now until you can manage to do so without botching the job, leave me and make yourself useful elsewhere. I have important matters to attend to."

Vader flinched. A spark of anger glittered in his eyes as he stood. "As you wish, my Master."

When Vader had gone, he chuckled. Hate and ire brought Anakin so much closer to disappearing forever. Someday, he'd look in Vader's eyes and see nothing left of Anakin.

~~~~~~~~~~

Make yourself useful.

Vader stalked along a walkway outside the Senate building, ignoring the startled glances sent his way. A smirk turned his lips as droids and pedestrians hurried to remove themselves from his path. His glance fell upon a walkway a little higher up. He slowed his strides.

On that stretch, was a humanoid Senator quite vocal in her criticisms of Padmé. Not just on Padmé's political policies, but on her as a woman. She belittled Padmé, said that Padmé had been too caught up in dallying with a Jedi to do her duty as a Senator. She'd called his beautiful, talented, intelligent wife negligent of duty, corrupt and void of virtue. His eyes narrowed. It was jealousy of course. What else could it be? That woman up there wished to be everything his Padmé was, have everything his Padmé had.

His Padmé.

Vader's smirk widened into a grin as he let his regard fall to the area below that walkway. No one was beneath it and there was nothing of particular value there.

Padmé was becoming his, the process running smoothly along and soon, her silly memories of who he had once been would fade from her mind. Once she fully grasped what he did for her at every turn, she'd come running into his arms. She'd greet him with unrestrained kisses and a new enthusiasm for the life he had planned for them.

Once she realized the full power available to her through him.

He watched the woman on the walkway, that jealous Senator, saw her speaking to three aides. Vader glanced up and down the walkway he was on and reached out with the Force.

No one criticized his Padmé.

The upper walkway came tumbling down in a deafening crash. Screams erupted from pedestrians and Vader walked on, head high and shoulders back, relaxed as though out for a casual stroll.

There. He felt much better now. Even Palpatine's dismissal no longer stung. Eventually, Palpatine would also pay for his comments on Padmé. But not yet. Vader still had much to learn about running an Empire and he planned to know it inside and out before dispatching his current Master into death's arms.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thalia Makan was not a Senator Padmé cared for. The woman was haughty and cruel and petty to the extreme. She was the sort to support a movement if it wounded someone she considered an enemy. She excelled in underhanded tactics and kept company with the loudest of Palpatine's supporters. Not someone Padmé considered a friend.

Nevertheless, news of Thalia's sudden death had shaken her.

She left her office early and found Anakin in the apartment. He was lying on their bed, hands beneath his head and ankles crossed, gaze flicking to her when she entered. He said nothing, watching her put away her cape, then following her into the living area.

"A Senator was killed today," she told him.

He settled into a chair, gave a polite nod. "What happened?"

"A walkway outside the Senate collapsed. All four people were killed instantly. They were crushed."

"That's terrible."

He didn't sound as though he thought it terrible, beginning to set up the game he and Dormé liked to play.

"I'm going to beat her tonight," he murmured. "Dormé's winning streak is at an end. I've figured out her usual strategies now." In seconds he had it ready and sighed. "She says you taught this game to her, Padmé. I'd like to play against you one of these days."

She returned to the subject at hand, ignoring his attempt to change the topic. "No one seems able to explain how the walkway collapsed. It was sound. It shouldn't have collapsed like it did. It could have happened at anytime, to anyone. It could have been me up there."

"Not you. Never you."

She stared at him, studying his profile. He was too cheerful, smug over something. Anakin sat back, stretched his long legs out, half turning in the chair.

"What do you think she thought right then?"

She? A terrible suspicion began in her mind. She'd never mentioned whether the Senator was male or female. "Who?"

"The Senator. When she fell. What do you think went through her mind? Did she know she was going to die? Did she have time to know it?"

Padmé's breath paused in her chest. "I never said it was a woman."

His eyes were cool, triumph lurking there in the blue depths. Anakin tilted his head against the tall back of the chair. After too long a moment to convey true innocence, he gestured with one hand to the holoprojector. "It was the subject of news reports. A little while ago."

A reasonable explanation, but she didn't even try to believe him. Anakin had caused Thalia Makan's death. Padmé knew it as certainly as she knew her own name.

He heaved another sigh, this one impatient. "Why are you so upset about it anyway? She hated you, Padmé. If it had been you, I assure you she'd have shed no tears."

"That's not the point, Anakin. A woman died today and I knew her."

Anakin's shoulders lifted in a tiny unconcerned shrug. His head turned towards the lift. "Dormé's on her way up."

Dormé entered from the lift a moment later, her arms burdened by packages. "Hello? Would someone help me? These are heavy."

Padmé gaped at him as he moved to help the woman. He didn't feel on bit of sorrow for the loss of a living being. She'd thought a Jedi would at least pause in respect for the passing of a life; would express some sort of feeling for that passing. Anakin didn't.

He's not a Jedi though, is he, her mind whispered. Not anymore. He's become a Sith, a man steeped in darkness. He no longer feels things the way he used to.

Her lower back ached and she rubbed at it with a grimace. The ache was constant these past few days and she'd discovered a new inability to sit still. Every position she stood, sat and laid in was uncomfortable and Padmé wondered why no one ever mentioned the aches and pains that went with being pregnant.

Dormé drew her a warm bath and helped her into it. Padmé relaxed in the soothing water. If possible, her movements were growing more clumsy by the day and she was heartily tired of being pregnant. Half the time she could barely lever herself from a sitting position to a standing one and she was beginning to forget what her own feet looked like. Belly blocked her view.

She soaked until she felt waterlogged and when Anakin came to help her out, she didn't mention that her back still ached. What would he possibly be able to do about it? His hands lingered when drying her and pulling on her nightgown, but she was too tired to draw away. His strong arms lifted her, carried her to bed and he tucked her beneath the covers with a gentle kiss to her lips.

Padmé did not remember what she dreamed or if, indeed, she dreamed at all.

~~~~~~~~~~

He still had nightmares.

Anakin lay beside Padmé, sweat dampening the sheets beneath him, his heart beating hard and fast in his chest. He still dreamed of her death in childbirth. The thought of losing her now, right when she was returning to him, paralyzed him with fear. He couldn't lose her. He'd done too much to save her to lose her in the end.

Don't worry, his thoughts soothed. You're powerful now, more so than even a week ago. You'll save her.

He gulped in a breath as though it was liquid and he thirsted. Beside him, Padmé stirred and Anakin was spurred to movement, scrambling to her side of the bed. He nuzzled his head to her breasts, one arm curving protectively about her belly. His tears wet her gown.

Padmé shifted, her hand grazing his bare back, resting on his arm. When her voice came, it was husky from sleep. "Anakin? What--?"

"Don't leave me," he murmured, breathing in the scents of Naboo wildflowers that coated her skin. Her favorite perfume, the same one that teased his dreams, bringing back memories of the meadow they'd once picnicked in. "Please, Padmé, don't leave me. Don't leave me alone here."

One month. She was due in one month.

Anakin slipped back in deep slumber, still curled protectively about his wife. He didn't wake again until dawn and then, it was Vader who opened his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Padmé remained awake the rest of the night. Her hands stroked his back, his arm, his hair and his face.

Come back to me Annie, she thought. Come back to me and I won't have to go.

Sadness made her weep, her cries were silent.