Part 1
"We danced... That's all I remember."
"What do you mean? You surely know what else you did?"
She shrugged. "If we did anything else, I don't remember."
"You're lying!" Ben sprung from his chair angrily. "How can you say that? I know what you did!"
"So tell me," she said icily, using all of her queenly presence to cow him. It didn't work. He was too angry, and knew her too well.
"You're not helping, Ben," frowned Bail. "She's obviously not going to tell us anything."
He made an impatient noise. "Do you know how important this is? The whole of galactic security is at stake here!" - He had said that too. I have to leave now, Amy, galactic security is at stake. I'll come back to you. She'd laughed. Galactic security? What do you mean? He'd given her a long look. What I say. - "If you don't act now," Ben continued, "we could all die and the Republic will fall! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Ben," warned Bail, looking at him disapprovingly.
"I know what it means. I just don't care." He started ranting at her, but she was away, back to that night. He had looked at her like she'd never been looked at before, like she - she, not the queen - was important. They had danced the whole night. At the end, they'd danced to the turbolift, danced into her room, and then - he'd kissed her, long and slow, and told her he loved her and wanted to be with her forever. She'd been swept away in the moment, she appeased the royal part of her that was shocked and slightly disgusted, but she really knew that she wanted him too, so bad that she would have let him do anything to her and not minded.
They had ended up on her bed, entangled in the soft sheets, their passion spent for the moment, exchanging low words and caresses. In retrospect, she realised he had played her like a violin. This was no mere inexperienced farmboy, but a veritable Casanova, as expert in matters of love as with machinery. She had drifted off to sleep in his arms, lulled by his heartbeat, and woken up hours later by his soft kisses. He had to go, he said. She managed to persuade him to stay for a while longer, but after that he did leave and left her wrestling with his motives for such an event and how she could redeem herself in the other's eyes, They would disapprove of it, she knew instinctively, so she hid it from them, concealing the evidence of his stay. But they knew anyway. How? How had she failed?
She interrupted Ben's tirade. "Why do you need to know? What has he done that's so important?"
"Killed four members of the Senate," Ben answered before Bail could stop him. She reeled in her seat, suddenly sick to her stomach. "Palpatine's trying to set up a state of emergency with himself as head, and he has his own hitman to do so. Your precious Anakin." The last words were spat out bitterly.
"Not my Anakin!" she tried to shout but only a whisper came out. "Your apprentice! Your fault! Not mine..."
"Stop trying to blame her," Bail said, full of quiet menace. He stood behind her, protecting her from the guilty wrath of Obi-Wan. "Her actions could have had no effect on him." But oh, they might have, she might have been able to save him from himself, if only she had let him take her sooner... Her thoughts trailed off as she slipped behind her blank mask again. She could not afford to think like that, she had to be coherent.
"Why do you think I made him do it?" she asked quietly, calmly.
"You have power over him that I... never had. He would listen to you where he would never listen to me... If you had said anything to him that angered him so much he turned, then... Well, I had to know, don't you see?"
"Yes... I said nothing to anger him. That night... What happened was private, I won't tell you, but he said he had to leave for the security of the galaxy. He believes what he's doing is right, Ben. You can't kill him for that."
"No, but we can kill him for unprovoked murder." His eyes were dark.
"Not if he is acting under somebody else's orders, surely." She was clutching at straws now. She wouldn't believe that of Anakin, he wasn't capable of it.
"You know it doesn't work like that," said Bail. She couldn't answer.
"Let's just leave it," said Ben abruptly. He looked exhausted. "It's not your fault. All we can do is wait for his next move."
"Wouldn't it be better to get the Jedi Counsel-" she began.
"And do what? Kill him and alienate the public, not to mention risking Palpatine's estimable anger? No. We wait." He stalked out of the room. Bail took a breath, as if to say something, but Amidala raised a hand to silence him and left too, to go to her quarters and sob it out of her system.
Part 2
She stared at the congealing food. For some reason she just wasn't hungry at all. She had never been the best of eaters, but lately she hadn't been able to eat. At least, she couldn't eat proper food. She was eating a lot of comfort food, although that was natural. She really missed Anakin. His absence had filled her house with silence, and eventually she had given up and fled back to Alderaan to hide in Bail's palace. He wasn't averse to the idea. Ben had gone to Tatooine to see his half-brother Owen, a very stubborn man if she remembered correctly. He had said something about rebuilding bridges, so she assumed Ben had projected his desire to make things better with Anakin onto Owen. She, meanwhile, had no-one left to project her emotions onto but Bail, who was already married.
She remembered his wedding. It had been three years ago. She was representing Naboo, and was dressed up in ceremonial garb. Then she met Obi-Wan, who was one of the many Jedi there, and his apprentice Anakin, a gawky teenager who towered awkwardly above her. She remembered him from years before that. She had met them both during the siege of Naboo, when Ben had been an apprentice and Anakin a slave boy, who caused a lot of - trouble was the wrong word, but it was that kind of thing. They had had a few hectic months in each other's company on Alderaan, then she had returned to Naboo to be decorous. Anakin had made her laugh, and she'd taught him to dance formally in return.
It was impossible to predict that three years later he would have had the entire Council after his blood. It still shocked her. If he ever turned up again, how should she treat him? Old friend? Lover? Outlaw? Villain? She didn't know and nobody could tell her.
"You're very quiet tonight," remarked Bail. "Still not hungry?"
"No," she replied, in no mood to be interrogated. Bail raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
She had just taken a sip of wine - it was very good wine, Bail's cellers were practically legendary - when she had the strangest sensation of heat. She put the glass down quickly, in case she dropped it and had to fork out a couple of thousand credits for a new one. Her vision flashed red briefly. She looked around, to see if it was only her. There were another few guests there, but none of them was looking up.
"Are you okay, Amy?" Bail asked suddenly.
"No, I... think it would be best if I just went to bed. I'm quite tired, I think I just have to sleep. I'll be all right in the morning." She smiled at him, and excused herself. She walked along the corridor. She didn't know what to do. She knew it was Ben and Anakin, she could feel it. She was only a little bit skilled in the Force, not enough to warrent training but enough to be sensitive to emotions, and she knew that if something like that was happening she would be able to tell. If he dies I'll know, she said to herself, but she didn't know which one she meant.
She hurried up the stairs her rooms. She switched on the comconsole and keyed in Meliem's number. Meliem was a Jedi friend of Ben's. She was very good at seeing things over far distances, and Amidala reasoned that something as important as this would be seen by practically everybody. It took a while for anyone to answer, and Harson, Meliem's husband, answered it.
"Amidala! You're safe! We were afraid-"
"What's happening, Harson? I saw something and I know they're fighting so I called Meliem because I thought if anyone knew she would, and then you picked up..."
"There're a few of us here. You're not the only one who trusts her, obviously. We all saw something, I think practically all the Force-sensitives in the galaxy did, and now we're waiting. Erron's giving a running commentary, Meliem's too deep in a trance to do anything. You know how she gets. So, as far as I can tell, they're still fighting, neither of them have lost limbs yet. Anakin managed to bypass Ben's defences a few moments ago, which is probably why you saw that. He always broadcasts his emotions so loudly! But Ben's getting more hits in than Kin. They're kind of at an impasse just now, but I don't know how long it's going to last for. If I was a betting man I wouldn't be, if you see what I mean..."
"Yes. I have seen them fight before, you know... Nobody has any idea about what might happen?"
"The general consensus is that it doesn't matter who wins, Palpatine will stay on top for longer than any of us will live."
"I don't like the sound of that."
"I don't like the echoes. Meliem thinks... Wait, something's happening... Ben's down, he's... Kin's going in, he's gonna kill him, no! Don't... Ben's flipped him! He's up and... But Kin, he's holding onto a ledge, it's gonna fall, hurry up, Ben! Get him! Yes, that's... Good, now... No, nonono, that can't be happening! Anakin!"
There was a scream in the background, probably Meliem, but all Amidala could see was a black shape against fiery red that burned its way into her eyes and her nightmares.
Part 3
Her soul was numb. "Not dead? What do you mean, not dead?"
"What do you think I mean? How can there be confusion about the issue? I thought he was dead, but Palplatine evidently rescued him. He's barely alive just now, but soon he'll be back, and stronger than ever. This time he'll have no morals to stop him."
"Why..?"
"He was already almost completely turned, but now..." Ben shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands out in a helpless gesture. "He has to be a Sith Lord now, don't you see? Only anger and hatred could keep him alive. It's best if we start to make preparations for our disappearances now, so he doesn't come to completely destroy his past. He's not Anakin anymore, Amy, he's evil and there's nothing we can do to stop him."
"No..." she breathed, sinking to the floor in despair. "I won't believe it, I can't. You're lying to me! You were always jealous and now you want to steal away my one chance of happiness... First you kill him, now you destroy him!" She was desperately trying to control her hysteria. Her control was slipping.
"It's not like that, Amy, you know it's not," he said quietly, miserably. He crouched beside her but didn't touch her. "I want the old Anakin back too, but I destroyed him years ago. I was such a fool!" He was trying to control his grief too, she realised, and this helped her to regain posession of herself.
"Stop trying to blame yourself, Ben," she said dully. "It was probably inevitable. Anyway, you're wasting energy you could better use helping me."
"Helping you? Why?"
She closed her eyes so she wouldn't see his face. "I'm pregnant."
"What?! How? When... How far gone are you?"
"How far do you think?" she snapped. "You could be more supportive, you know. Most pregnant women get congratulations first."
"Congratulations? Oh, yes, congratulations, you're pregnant by the man who will single-handedly destroy the Jedi! Well done, such a glorious achievement! And you thought being queen was good enough! Well, you've really surpassed yourself this time, haven't you, Queen Amidala!" He had stood up and was storming about the room in a classical Obi-Wan rage. She drew herself up to her full, if rather short, height.
"Stop it!" she commanded imperiously. "I don't need your help, Ben. I could just go to Palpatine and tell him. I mean, I'm sure he would look after me. I am carrying his hit-man's Force-sensitive children, after all, and he could probably do with another couple of Darksiders to add to his collection."
"Don't even think about it!" Ben exclaimed, grabbing her arms as if to forceably keep her back. "He would kill you as soon as look at you."
This shocked her out of her wall of sarcasm. "Why?"
"Anakin's children will be more powerful than him, you remember? They could destroy him even though none of the Jedi will be able to."
"So... If Palpatine found out about them, he would kill them?"
"Exactly. And right now, that would involve killing you too."
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "But, but would Anakin kill them? Surely he wouldn't..." She looked at him, eyes wide and tragic.
"I don't know." He shook his head, musing. Then he looked at her. "Them? It's twins?" She nodded. "What..."
"A boy and a girl."
"Ah... So, both of them are Force-sensitive?" She nodded again. "Which one is more powerful?"
"I'm not sure. I think maybe the girl, but not necessarily in the same way as the boy."
"So it would be better to hide her where nobody will find her, then, and him... Perhaps his identity need not be so secret, so if Anakin or Palpatine find out, then the less powerful one will be taken and we will be left with the hidden girl..." he mused. Amidala listened, vaguely horrified that her children's lives were being gambled away, but she knew that it made perfect sense. "What will their names be?"
"I don't know. I mean, I haven't really thought about it. I had other things on my mind."
"Hmm. Well, you should think about it. The sooner they're named, the better. That way we won't have to refer to them impersonally."
"Fine," she said, suddenly exhausted. He looked concerned, but at that moment Bail came in, in uniform and out of breath.
"What's up? Sorry, I couldn't get away. Fill me in. Are you all right?" he added, to Amidala. Ben looked at her; do you want to tell? She shook her head slightly: you do it. She went over to the low sofa and stretched out on it.
Part 4
It had been a long night. She'd finally got to bed at three, but had unforunately been entirely unable to sleep for more than fifteen minutes at a time. She lay awake, uncomfortable and exhausted. Pregnancy was taking its toll, made all the worse by the nightmarish situation she was in.
It would have been acceptable to be carrying Anakin's children if he was dead, even after what he had done, because everybody knew he was a powerful Jedi and that his children would be too. Sins are forgiven quicker once the sinner has died. So although it would have been an uncomfortable situation to be in, a queen pregnant by an ex-slave, it wouldn't have been impossible. She could have kept her head down until the children were old enough to comprehend, and then got on with the rest of her life quietly.
But this way, no-one could know about it, except the few that had to. A live and angry Anakin was very dangerous. His children would be hated and feared if it was found out who they were. They might be killed by some fool who thought he was doing the galaxy a service. Although most of this was dependent on what Anakin himself did. If he came back to them, penitent and mutilated, he would no doubt have everybody's pity, and maybe even turn the tide against Palpatine. She would be able to reveal her children to Jedi society at least. But if he returned for vengeance, her situation would be even more precarious. She ran the risk of being killed just because she knew him, and Ben had convinced her that Palpatine would have her killed if he ever found out she had had Anakin's children, which he surely would if he met her. Physical evidence could be hidden, but the emotional evidence couldn't be unless she was a Jedi, which she wasn't.
She had been thinking about what to name her children for several weeks now. Every time she fixed upon a name, something happened to make her change her mind. She'd decided about the girl: she was to be called Leia, after an character in an Alderaanian myth which she and Anakin had both been taken by. The Leia of yore had been a princess who rescued her true love from various perils. The true love involved had returned the favour a few times too. She had been feisty, and carried about fifty different weapons on her person at all times. Just the sort of person who would make an interesting queen, they had both decided, and so Amidala named their daughter after her.
Bail had approved of the choice too. He was taking an interest in her and her children these days. If her suspicions were correct, and she thought they were, Ben was planning to offload Leia onto him and his wife. She would certainly fit in with the classical Alderaanian pattern; she had inherited her mother's stature rather than her father's, and she was going to be beautiful too.
But the boy was a different matter. She couldn't call him Anakin; Skywalker was too uncommon a name for there to be two Anakin Skywalkers, and in any case it wouldn't be allowed. She was currently leaning towards Luke. It was a nice, strong name, a name that could take practically anything thrown at it. And a lot of things would be thrown at her small son. She was afraid for him, more afraid for him than Leia. After all, Leia would be protected by complete secrecy, but Luke - if that was his name, she still wasn't sure - would have to bear his father's name and perhaps even his father's shame. She wasn't sure what Ben would tell him about Anakin, when the time came for him to know. He'd promised to look after both of them, but looking after didn't necessarily mean telling them the truth.
She sighed, turned over, and tried to count banthas.
Part 5
Six long months had passed since the night of the Ball. Amidala was constantly tired, because of the physical problems of a small woman carrying swiftly-growing twins, and because of the emotional struggles she was going through. It would take another year for Anakin to be back on his feet, as it were, but their plans had been finalised months before. The twins were to be separated, Luke going with Ben to Tatooine and growing up the son of a couple of moisture farmers, Leia to be taken by Bail to his estranged wife Solace, who had been 'persuaded' by Ben to participate, and to grow up the daughter of the Viceroy, a princess of Alderaan. Every night she apologised to her children for the lives she was inflicting on them. She knew exactly how bad being royalty could be, but growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere must be even worse. She sighed, a common event now.
Bail came in and smiled at her, but his eyes were sad. All their eyes were sad, hers, his, Ben's, all the Jedi who came to see her in this confined place. But Bail was the only one of them who smiled regularly. She only ever smiled when she thought of her children, and she'd only ever seen Ben smile once since the fight, when he'd felt Luke kick. Even that was a pitiful excuse for the old grins that used to cross his face like sun after rain.
"How do you feel?" Bail asked, sitting opposite her.
"Fat. Tired. Sore." Inside and out...
"Not long to go now," he said encouragingly.
"And then what? I want them to stay like this. I don't mind always needing to pee, and never eating enough but eating too much anyway, and wanting to eat things which make me nauseous even thinking about them. At least this way I know they're safe. I can look after them. But, as soon as they're born, I'll have no control over them, no way to protect them. Some mother I'm going to be." To her horror she found she was crying. She sniffed, and wiped away the tears threatening her dress.
"Hey, don't cry," Bail said, reaching out to soothe her. She flinched away. He was too quick in his comfort. She had never been sure of his motives in volunteering to take Leia. He couldn't be the father of her children, but he wanted them anyway? He had wanted to take Luke too, until Ben had become angry and threatened to forcibly make him give up on that idea. Even her puns were tired.
"Sorry," she said briefly. "Hormones."
"No, it's okay. I don't mind." He smiled bitterly. "It's not like I've never seen it happen before." She looked away. Solace had lost three children before she had given up and closeted herself away, deep in the Alderaanian plains. But that closeting was now vital to their plan, and Solace no longer had any objections. There were many advantages to being a Jedi, she realised ever more increasingly. Bail came to her with gifts and kind words, but Ben came and eased her nerves, levitated her to take the pressure off her small frame, let her sleep without being woken by a small foot in the intestines. His visits were full of emotional tension but physical relaxation. Just the opposite of Bail's, in fact.
As if on cue, Ben walked in, no longer a gentle swagger but a tense march. He was growing old, she saw with a shock, the hair at his temples white. His face was lined, like her own, with too much grief. He nodded to Bail, and kissed her on the cheek, sitting down next to her. He probed her gently in the Force, finding out where she was tense - everywhere, right now - and making her relax. Their little ritual. She sighed. It felt good.
"So, how are you, Bail?"
"Been better," he admitted. "Solace is kicking up a fuss about the nursery. Says it should be pink, seeing as it's a girl."
"And? Makes sense to me," said Ben, with an instinctive lack of taste. Sometimes, Amidala mused, she thought he was colour-blind. That could be the only possible explanation for his clothes.
"She's royalty," she said. "Royalty gets gold rooms."
"Not on Alderaan. Here, everybody gets white rooms until they ask for a specific colour."
"So make it white," Ben said, still mystified.
"Ah, but she reasons that, since she's a royal baby, she should get different treatment. And that means pink rooms."
"I would have died had my rooms been pink," said Amidala flatly.
"You were never particularly girly, though, were you?" said Ben reflectively. "In fact, you were quite the tomboy. I remember, one time you and Anakin climbed that tree, and you both got stuck, but instead of waiting for me to come and rescue you both he climbed down as far as possible and jumped."
"And then he told me to jump after him and he would catch me."
"But you didn't, for whatever reason, and then I got you down and shouted at you both for being so stupid."
"I was terrified I would crush him, I think. He was so small!"
"And it turned out he'd fractured his leg jumping down, and when he tried to walk he fell over."
"I laughed so hard, until I worked out that he was trying not to cry. He had such a beautiful injured expression for days afterwards. He was so good at pouting, I was jealous."
"Yeah..." Ben's half-smile faded abruptly. Hers lasted a bit longer, then died as she realised just how much she missed those pouty lips, that injured puppy-dog look. She took Ben's hand, to comfort herself as much as him. He squeezed it so hard it hurt, but she didn't say anything. The three of them sat there, lost in their own thoughts.
Part 6
Her tear dropped onto his head. He sneezed, but didn't wake up. His face was still screwed up tight, a little red bundle of hope and fear. She kissed each small finger and toe, the fuzzy patch of hair, his little button nose.
"Luke..." she whispered through the tears that were threatening to drown him. "I love you. I want you to remember that forever. Can you do that? I'm so sorry for this. I don't want you to go away from me."
"I'm sorry for doing this to you," said a voice from the doorway. She whirled, clutching Luke protectively. Ben stood, half in darkness. He wore a dark cloak and carried the small bag she had put together for Luke, along with another gift for her abandoned son: Anakin's lightsaber. It gleamed coldly in the moonlight, alien in this child's environment. To her surprise it didn't affect her. She supposed she was too upset over Luke's imminent departure to care about his long-departed father.
"It's the only thing I can think of doing," he continued. "Perhaps, if I had more time, or..." He trailed off. They had no more time, and even if they did, her decision would still be the same. There was no way she could keep her children. Anakin, or whoever he was now, would seek them out as he would surely seek her out.
"I'll be back once he's settled in, to take you to - safety," Ben said, moving towards her softly. He took Luke carefully, as if he was an ornament that might break at any moment break into a thousand pieces. She tried not to sob. She felt like her heart was breaking like that ornament. Suddenly Ben gave him back to her.
"Till I get to the ship," he explained in a whisper. It struck her that he must be crying too. She held Luke like she imagined one would hold on to a plank in a storm. He yawned in his sleep, displaying a perfect mouth. She bit her lip furiously, not wanting to disturb his sleep. This boy could sleep through practically anything, though, as he had displayed earlier in the evening when he had slept through Leia's screams. She knew what was going on, and protested accordingly.
They walked down the corridor slowly. Amidala tried to memorise what Luke felt like, so she could remember him when he was gone. Ben walked in stony silence, occasionaly wiping tears away that he was still trying to deny. They neared the ship, and she numbly contemplated running away, taking Luke with her so she didn't have to lose him, but she knew it would never work. She could not sacrifice the life of her son for her own selfish, if natural, desires.
Ben's ship loomed above her. He held out his arms to take Luke, eyes boring into her, a thousand apologies on his lips. She gave him her son, cast him adrift on fate's sea.
"Could you-" her mouth was dry. She cleared her throat, and tried again. "Could you make sure he knows-" She broke off, unable to continue. Ben nodded. He knew what she wanted: for her son to know she loved him, and she was sorry for the life she was inflicting on him, and she would see him again one day.
Ben reached over Luke and kissed her goodbye. He didn't talk either. Probably couldn't. She stroked Luke's head one last time. Ben turned away and went up the gangway. She wanted to scream at him to stop, or to let her go with them, but she couldn't move, couldn't do anything. She started weeping then. He turned one last time, but the door closed and all she saw was his tears and her son's peaceful face. Someone pulled her back, out of the launch bay. She never knew who it was. She couldn't feel anything except her pain. She sobbed until she thought her heart would burst.
She found herself back in the nursery, a screaming Leia in her arms. She cried with her daughter until sleep finally claimed them both. Part 7
It was easier this time, she mused, her vision blurred by soft lenses of salt water. Perhaps it was because she had done it before, or because she knew the foster parents. Or maybe she was still numb from last time.
It had been two months since she handed over Luke to Ben's protection, yet she still shed bitter tears every night. Now she had another reason to cry. Leia had screamed again, all night, until her tiny throat was red raw, which of course made her cry harder. She had finally fallen asleep, only to wake up as Amidala handed her over to Solace for the last time. But she had only cried quietly, hopelessly, as if she knew it was no use, that her mother was leaving no matter what.
Solace had wept too, as they hugged clumsily over Leia's shuddering form. Bail looked stony, keeping strict control over himself as befitted a King. She had climbed up the ramp, legs like lead, every step feeling like a mile. They had disappeared as the door shut, Leia still crying. Now she was sitting on a chair somewhere on a ship taking her back to Naboo. Their journey through hyperspace was complete and it was time for her to put on the royal regalia. One of her ladies-in-waiting - she couldn't remember who - took her by the hand and cleaned her up, then put on her make-up, dressed her in the many-layered costume, and put her hair in one of the complicated styles that used to be so familiar.
She was led out of the ship and down a long stone corridor that looked like she should know it. She had walked here often, in another life. She knew who made those hangings, who carved that statue, who this hall was named after. But she couldn't access the memory any more. It was an effort to lift her feet, put them one in front of the other. She felt detached, like this was all a dream.
But if it was she refused to wake up. She was suddenly hit by sunlight, and blinked until her eyes adjusted. She was on a balcony, and there were lots of people cheering. At her, she finally realised. She smiled automatically and waved at the crowd, provoking more cheers. She was announced, and a spokesperson said she had just returned from a long and arduous journey and was too tired to talk at the present time. The familiar sound of her dialect washed over her, momentarily taking her back to her brief childhood.
The royal party left the balcony, and again she was led discreetly by some unknown court member. She had to relearn their names, she thought idly. Calling them by the wrong name would be disastrous. She was guided gently to her old chambers, where another anonymous someone removed the queenly garb and let her sleep.
Part 8
"The Corellian Ambassador, Your Majesty," the major domo announced.
"Your Royal Highness," he said, bowing low.
"Michel," she said, smiling slightly.
"Highness, a rumour has just reached me of the gravest importance," he said, launching straight into his grievance mode. "The Jedi residing on Corellia have all mysteriously vanished. Signs of struggles have been found, and it is suspected that they were murdered. Corellian Intelligence informs me that we are not the only, or the first, planet to have been hit in such a way and I thought it best to inform you that it is likely that such a thing will occur here too." He stopped, having run out of drama to hit her with.
"Thank-you for your information, Ambassador Michel, but I have recieved it already through other sources. Although I was unaware that Corellia had been struck too. The Jedi on Naboo have been informed and provisions have been made for their escape, should they wish it."
"I see. I wish them well." Michel looked tense and old. Amidala remembered suddenly that his sister had been a healer, and had probably been on Corellia to be near her family.
She had first recieved the news two days ago, and had spent the next four hours hysterical, not knowing whether she should be terrified or glad that Anakin was mobile. In her secret thoughts, she still hoped there was a chance he could be turned again, and she could have a whole family, even if every Jedi she had spoken to had sworn he would not be turned by anyone they had heard of.
Despite this, she was sure he would turn. She couldn't explain it, she just knew. Oh, it wouldn't be by her. That denial had been all too swift in coming. But maybe one of her children could turn him. It gave her a shard of hope to hold on to. She had so few left, she grasped them close to her heart jealously, allowing no-one to take them away from her.
The rest of their meeting continued without interruption, as did the rest of the day. Finally, Amidala changed out of her robes and let her hair down - her neck was slowly acclimatising to the extra weight, but it still felt sore at the end of the day. She walked to her rooms, where a pot of cha was waiting for her. Her maids were very efficient. After several years of doing things for herself, she felt rather uncomfortable when people did things for her, but it left her more time for herself. Although she wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.
She had just relaxed and kicked her shoes off when a man dropped through the ceiling. She was too shocked to scream, but not shocked enough to freeze where she was. She pulled her pocket blaster out and pointed it at the invader. They stared at each other; he was wearing some sort of cloth which blurred his features into an unrecognisable blob. Hopefully he wouldn't notice the catch of her blaster was still on, she thought in surreal serenity. Then he took his hood off, and gave her a twisted smile.
"Ben!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting you out," he said grimly. "Anakin's on the hunt."
"I've heard."
"Well, he's headed in this direction. You have to leave now, Amy, or he'll catch you."
"Why?" she asked, trying to stall.
"I'll explain on the way out," he said, pulling her to her feet.
"But I can't leave. They need me, I'm their queen."
"They'll find another one," he said shortly, taking her to the spot where he came down. He lifted her up through the Force and she found herself in a narrow gap between her ceiling and the floor above.
"Go straight ahead, then turn right," he ordered, appearing behind her.
"But why?"
"Because I say so. Hurry up, Amy, we don't have much time left."
They crawled between the floors for what seemed like an uncomfortable eternity. They eventually reached another gap, which they dropped down. They ran along a corridor Amidala had never seen before, and arrived in one of the launch bays, where a particularly ugly spacecraft was waiting.
"Where did you find that?" she asked, astonished. She suddenly remembered her theory on Ben's taste in clothes, and extended it to include everything.
"Never mind," he said. "Get on!"
The door opened. Amidala started to run up when she saw a figure standing at the top of the ramp. She skidded to a halt, staring in horror at the black shape. Was it human or mechanical? There was no way to know. Behind her, Ben pulled out his lightsaber with a hiss, only partly drowning out his impressive list of curses. She was quite surprised at his inventiveness. She hadn't known he knew so many languages, let alone swearwords.
She shook herself out of her reverie. She had noticed that she had an unfortunate tendency to notice stupid details when she was shocked, and it wasted time which could be better spent, for example, running away and screaming. She tried to do this, but found herself frozen to the spot.
Ben had evidently run out of vocabulary, because he said in an incredulous voice, "Anakin?"
"Anakin is dead," boomed a deep voice from the black helmet. "I am Darth Vader."
"You? You are Anakin? Why... How?" she exclaimed, the credit finally dropping.
"Anakin no longer exists," he repeated.
Ben drew up behind her. "What do you want?"
"To see you dead," he replied calmly. He started to walk down the gangway. Ben and Amidala backed away simultaneously.
"What about her?"
"She will come with me," he said, meaningfully.
"Why?" Ben asked.
"I want her to."
"What if I don't want to?" she asked quietly, terrified for her - and Ben's - safety.
"You have no choice in the matter. You will come with me. We are meant to be together, Amy. It is our destiny. You cannot escape it."
"Destiny?" she spat out. "There is no such thing! You were not destined to become this, this-" monster- "evil. I was not destined to flee you! Palpatine was not destined to become Emperor. None of this was destined to happen! Don't you see? This-" she gestured wildly around her, taking in everything- "is a mistake. It should never have happened."
"It is better this way," Vader intoned.
"Better?" exclaimed Ben. "Better that you should live in agony?"
"That is your fault, Kenobi, and you shall pay for it," he replied. He advanced until he was directly in front of them, and drew out his lightsaber. It was red, and impressive. Ben raised his own lightsaber, a pale blue affair, not nearly as menacing as Vader's. Amidala was shoved to the side as the duel began. She cowered against the wall as they slashed at each other. She was absolutely terrified.
Her subconcious was trying to tell her something, because instead of watching them fight she was looking at a black spot in the wall. The door. Of course! She started sidling round to it. It was only a few meters away, but it felt like an eternity. She had almost reached it when a black hand smashed into the wall before her. Anakin's new face stared at her. She stared back, her fear on her face.
Ben appeared behind Vader's shoulder, lightsaber raised to kill, but Vader deflected it easily, still staring at her. He spun her around in front of him and fought Ben using her as a shield, so Ben had to be extra careful not to hit her while he had a free aim at him. She was pulled around by him, blue and red light flashing in her eyes, until, blinded by the colours, she stumbled and fell - straight onto a lightsaber.
She didn't know which one. She couldn't see anything except the horror in Ben's eyes and the looming black of Vader. She fell into Ben's arms, speared through but still concious by some miracle. It didn't hurt, which surprised her.
"Amy," whispered Ben. "I'm sorry, I-"
He disappeared as Vader snatched her away. All that was left of him was his receding footsteps as he took his chance and ran for his ship. Vader watched but did nothing, only saying softly "A life for a life..."
Her vision was fading. Was it her imagination that supplied Anakin's face, or had he taken the mask off? She wasn't sure. She smiled at him.
"You know," she breathed conversationally, "it might have worked. I wouldn't have minded being your prisoner so much. I think... I always was." She reached up to touch his face, but it blurred into black and suddenly she had left, was flying into the light of a sun brighter than any she had seen before.
Dying will be such a great adventure, she thought irreverently as she sailed into her parents' arms.
DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me, they belong to nice Mr. Demigod Lucas. Please do not grudge me their use; I am a poor, starving student and have no money at all. The story and situation is the only thing that belongs to me. Unfortunately.