The Real Rise of Skywalker V (Patreon)

One day I'll remember to have this ready to post at midnight, but it is not this day.

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Padmé came over and whispered to him, “Did I do okay?” She had a hopeful look on her face.

“You did fantastic.” Anakin assured her. Better than even he would have done, if he were honest. This was why she was the politician, and he was the warrior.

She smiled in relief, before leaning in, “I had to threaten him with a Force Choke.” She murmured.

Well, they couldn’t have that, could they? He turned to Gunray and seized control of his mind, shredding the memory of the confrontation and replacing it with one of Anakin appearing and doing the choking on Padmé’s behalf. Satisfied, he withdrew. The Neimoidian Viceroy had an absolutely pounding headache because of it. Anakin had not been gentle. “You have credits to transfer, don’t you, Viceroy?” He asked archly.

“Y-Yes, of course.” Gunray felt cold as he acquired the wire details for Naboo’s Royal Treasury. He began to make transactions, mentally wailing in agony as he watched trillions leave the Trade Federation’s accounts. When he was done, he looked up at Anakin and Padmé with complete and utter hatred in his eyes. “Finished.” He hissed out.

“Your thoughts betray you.” Anakin simply looked at him dispassionately and the Viceroy froze. “The agreement-” Anakin straightened and glared back at him. “Was ten percent, Viceroy.” He raised his hand.

“No, no, wait!” Gunray immediately started transferring more, swearing unholy vengeance on Queen Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. He howled in fury as he was forced to drain Rune Haako’s accounts entirely and even tap into his own not inconsiderable wealth. He would do anything Lord Sidious demanded of him for vengeance on this planet and these two in particular. If he managed to survive this travesty.

“Good. So you can learn.” Anakin smiled in satisfaction as fifty trillion credits made their way into Naboo’s coffers. That was more money than the planet had made in the last century. Naboo had never been a particularly wealthy nation. “Now it’s time for you to await the Republic pickup in your nice, comfy jail cell.” Anakin used the Force to cuff the Viceroy and smirked before ordering the guard to process him. He felt bad for whoever would have to hold onto the Neimoidian as they descended down the collapsed stairwell.

Really, he had to wonder what the architects were thinking when they designed it. It wasn’t like it was even that defensible as it was at the top of the palace and easily accessible from above. “Leave us. Start rounding up all of the Neimoidians.” Padmé requested, and the rest of her retinue left her and Anakin alone. She expected to run into his arms the second they were alone.

Instead, he practically teleported to seize her, and she let out a shocked squeal as he spun her around. “I’m soooo proud!”

“Ani!” She wailed until he put her on her feet. “I… I wasn’t too aggressive?” She asked as she embraced him. “I…” She recalled the way she had Force Choked the Viceroy and had purposefully killed Rune Haako. “…I killed one of them…”

“They would have done worse to you.” Anakin replied, running his thumb on her cheek. “And if you had been any less aggressive, one of the girls might have gotten hurt. Or worse.” She flinched, “I know you’re not a fan of fighting.” That was an understatement. “But in this galaxy, might is the only thing far too many people understand. I’ll never fault you for wanting peaceful solutions. But if pacifism is all you ever show, then your enemies won’t see strength. They’ll see targets. As much as I know you don’t and won’t like it… mercy is the privilege of the strong.”

She bit her bottom lip, before looking up at him. “You knew exactly what would happen in the Senate. Well, maybe not exactly, but you predicted things so well I know you’re familiar with its inner workings.” She said, “If I had done nothing… what would have happened to the Trade Federation?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” Anakin asked softly. She pursed her lips, already not liking this. She nodded solemnly. “Nothing.” He said simply. Her eyes bulged out and her jaw dropped. “They would have done nothing. Gunray would have multiple trials that led nowhere as he bought and paid for his release. The Chancellor’s sanctions on them would have little effect. They would go on to retain most of their power, even in exile from the Republic, and simply regain their composure and new allies in the Outer Rim. And we? We wouldn’t have seen a single red credit from them in reparations.”

She stared at him, dumbfounded, her mouth still open in shock. “That…” She finally said weakly, “That can’t-”

“I told you that you wouldn’t want to know.” Well, he hadn’t, but he had certainly implied it.

She looked up at him, “How do you know all these things?! You’re barely older than I am!”

“That-” was a conversation he dreaded, because he knew it could make or break his future with her. He had worked hard on himself to ensure it wouldn’t break him if she chose to go her separate way from him, but he still knew how much it would hurt. “-is a story we need a lot more time than we have to tell. And it isn’t a burden you need right now.” He said, and she opened her mouth to protest, “Once things have settled down.” He said, “I promise.”

She looked deep into his eyes. “I’ll hold you to that.” She whispered, before standing on her tip-toes to surprise him with a kiss. It was a quick peck and then she walked away, going to the throne and beginning to do what she needed to do. He had his own work to do, so he left without another word.

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It took over two weeks before things were settled. He barely saw Padmé outside of meetings during that time as they were all hard at work. Anakin and she had celebrated heavily with his family once they landed back on the planet. He was so proud of Ani, Aayla, Kali, and Ahsoka. He almost felt bad when he was forced to strip their achievement away by erasing the memories of almost everyone involved in the battle.

Qui-Gon had questioned it, but Anakin had explained that he didn’t want their Force Potential known while they were so young. He ensured that the kids knew that it wasn’t a punishment for them, and that everyone important knew what they had done. The kids were frustrated but accepted it and went right back to cloaking when Anakin demanded it.

The rest of the time, Anakin was hard at work draining knowledge from the Plasma refiners employed by the Federation. The thing about having a conglomerate come and set up a tech base on a world that didn’t have the means or knowledge to do it themselves was that it didn’t exactly open up more than grunt work for the native people. Even decades later, most Nabooans barely had any knowledge about how to properly set up and maintain the equipment, nor how to run it optimally, or even how to ensure they were finding the best spots to drill.

Anakin drained more knowledge than he frankly cared to have on the process from the high-level federation people and spent the time programming droids to both do the work and to teach the native Nabooans how to do it themselves. Thankfully, he had a bunch of B-1 scraps to work with.

Padmé was quick to put the Federation’s credits to good use, opening up a school for anyone who wanted to work with their plasma to learn at. She also invested heavily into education, which she would offer to the Gungans too. She also ordered the construction of a Planetary Ion Cannon for defense. It was a baby step for the planet’s defense, but it would do for now. It irritated him that even now, some of these fools thought that was too aggressive, but he settled for it. Once Padmé’s reign was secured forever and she was made a true monarch and not just an elected one, they could push for more aggressive means.

Finally, Anakin located Maul’s Scimitar, cleansed it of its communicators and trackers, and disappeared it. It was a nifty little ship and something to keep in reserve.

On the first day of the third week, newly elected Chancellor Palpatine arrived, all smiles as he strutted down the ramp of his ship. Panaka was behind him and quickly took control of Gunray. He didn’t say a word to Padmé, still angry about his dismissal. It was a snub and all of them knew it, and it affirmed Padmé’s decision. Conspicuously missing was the Jedi Order.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon bowed to Palpatine, “We are indebted to you for your bravery, Master Qui-Gon, Padawan Kenobi.”

“Thank you, Chancellor, but the Queen and her men were far braver than we were.” Qui-Gon replied.

Palpatine smiled at them and walked past to Padmé. She smiled back pleasantly at him, “Congratulations on your election, Chancellor.” It was most definitely a ‘business’ pleasant and no longer the friendly smile she had given him in the past.

“Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty. It’s you who should be congratulated. Together, we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic.” He replied, “The Jedi Council wishes to beg your forgiveness for the incident back on Coruscant. As decreed, they have not come to our Naboo with me.”

Padmé’s face didn’t change. “I wish I could give them that forgiveness, Chancellor, but for now, my decree shall stand. The Jedi were unnecessarily aggressive, easily goaded to violence, and would have completely ignored my wishes and even the law if they had been strong enough to detain Lord Skywalker. I cannot allow such dogmatic and arrogant individuals on our planet if they will get into fights with my retainer over their religious dogma.”

“I see.” Palpatine wanted to cackle. His plans had yet to even begin and already the Jedi were looking like fools. Surely other planets would follow in Amidala’s footsteps and ban them too. That would make it so much easier for him to seize force sensitives for his own purposes. “I suppose they will have to be disappointed then, as sad as that is to say.” He said solemnly, “Now, I’m told you have a treaty for us?”

“We do.” Padmé nodded to Sabé, who produced a datapad and handed it to Palpatine.

As the man read, he barely kept his jaw from dropping and his eyes from bulging. ‘What in Plagueis’s unmarked grave?!’ He couldn’t believe what he was reading. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought someone from his peace-loving home world would have been capable of such demands. The demands were almost Sith-like in their viciousness. Amidala had not only ripped out a couple fangs from the Trade Federation’s jaws but then drained them of a few pints of blood as well before getting rid of them with a hard spank to the rump. It was actually incredible, and he was legitimately speechless.

It took everything he had in him not to glance in Anakin Skywalker’s direction. It had to be him. No one on this pacifistic waste of rock and water thought like this. Sidious wanted to break him and make him his slave so badly. He knew Maul had been defeated by Anakin, and he wondered how strong he really was. “W-Well.” He resumed his role as Palpatine and said lamely. “This is incredible, Your Majesty.”

“I am tasking you with getting this ratified by the Senate, Chancellor.” Padmé smiled again, “We will not let the Trade Federation escape this senseless slaughter with a slap on the wrist.”

Tasking him? Sidious slipped out momentarily. The nerve of this little chit. “Of course.” Palpatine said demurely. “Were there any difficulties in regaining control of our planet?”

“Only a minor skirmish.” Anakin cut in, smiling pleasantly at Sidious. “Just some poorly-trained excuse of a failed Jedi. I think he called himself a Sith?”

‘POORLY TRAINED?!’ Sidious slipped out again. “A Sith? There hasn’t been a Sith in the galaxy for a millennium!” Palpatine almost clenched his jaw.

“Well, like I said, he wasn’t exactly that skilled, so he probably wasn’t actually a Sith.” Anakin said flippantly, “Did a bit too much incoherent screaming in rage and flailing around with his lightsaber. It was kind of sad, honestly. Whoever trained him must not have had much training either. I’d be legitimately disappointed if they were in hiding for a thousand years and that was the best they managed to produce.” He goaded his former master. He wanted to see him snap.

“Isn’t that good to hear?” Sidious wanted to choke the life from this arrogant brat. He wanted to flay the flesh from his bones.

And at their side, Padmé fixed her face while she stewed in her confusion. What was going on? She knew Anakin well. Those statements were absolutely inflammatory, and she knew that the Sith hadn’t been poorly trained. Even being in the same room as him would have been terrifying if Anakin hadn’t been there. She didn’t even trust the two Jedi to protect her from him. Why was Anakin acting like he did when he goaded Ki-Adi Mundi? And why did Palpatine’s jaw twitch as he replied?

In any case, the pleasantries were taken care of, and she invited the Chancellor into the Palace, where they had a new temporary throne room set up on the first level.

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The celebrations that followed were exactly the sort that Padmé loved. She brought actual, legitimate peace between two people who had mistrusted each other for generations. She smiled happily as the procession of Gungans entered the city with much fanfare, music, and excitement. The Nabooans were happy to greet their neighbors who had risked so much to save them, and the Gungans were happy to see that the ‘uppity’ Nabooans who they thought looked down on them didn’t. Flower petals floated through the air as Boss Nass descended from his Falumpaset with a thud and greeted her warmly at the palace steps. She was proud to hand him the Globe of Peace to officially mark the dawn of a new era for their peoples.

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That night, a hooded figure left the Palace. Palpatine had tried to find more information on Skywalker but had been rebuffed. As much as he would like to put the brat in his place, he needed to exercise control. He had just won his first major victory, but the war wasn’t over yet. No, the war had barely even begun.

He couldn’t risk a confrontation now. So, he employed other means. He first tried viruses in the royal Palace to collect information, but the security had been massively upgraded. Every attempt he made was quickly destroyed or quarantined immediately, and he was risking discovery. He then went to the archives to locate where Anakin had lived prior to moving to the palace. He needed to explore that home and see if he could uncover any secrets. Any weaknesses. He was surprised to learn that his home had been built near Varykino. They were basically neighbors.

And so, he headed that way. He could sense a few beings within the home, but they were all weaklings. Not worth a thing except as anything but hostages for Skywalker. He wanted to know more and cloaked himself heavily in the Force, ready to enter and see what he had to work with.

He must have tripped some sort of silent alarm, because to his shock, battle droids of a make he didn’t recognize were deployed. All of them ignited vibroblades and raised blaster arms. By the Sith Hells, a couple of automated turrets even popped out from beneath the ground.

Sidious turned and left in a hurry. He could certainly defeat a couple droids and evade blaster fire, but it simply wasn’t worth the risk of discovery. If he had all of these defenses and they were capable of finding him even while he was hiding with the Force, then perhaps he even had recording devices. The last thing Sidious needed was his hood slipping and the Republic finding holovids of him fighting with red lightsabers plastered all over the holonet.

With his side quest a failure, he went to the last known location of the Scimitar. He ground his teeth in frustration when he realized it was gone, and that either Skywalker or the Naboo had claimed it.

He left the next day seething in rage, rarely to return to his home world as he began to consolidate power on Coruscant. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon went with him, but something told Anakin that wasn’t the last they’d seen of the two Jedi.

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It took another two weeks for things to settle down and for Padmé and him to have a real day off. And the first thing she did as they secluded themselves away from it all was to sob into his chest. “What’s wrong, Padmé?” He lightly gave her a scalp massage.

She whimpered into his chest, shaking her head, “Oh, it’s just my parents.” She pulled back, calming herself forcibly, “They’re just being so…so…” She let out an inarticulate exclamation of anger and frustration. She backed away and began pacing, “I don’t know why they don’t understand! The karking Federation killed a hundred thousand of our people here in Theed! All while they were off cowering in their home away from the capital.”

“Wait.” Anakin said dully, “They’re upset with you?” He asked incredulously.

“YES!” Padmé snarled, “Not about the money or the trade routes or the plasma deal. No, they’re over the moon about that! But all someone had to do was mention the Lucrehulks and the droids and they all but started to yell at me!”

“We’re incredibly disappointed, young lady!” Her father said. “We’re a peaceful people and now we have battleships floating above us!”

Her mother was calmer than him, but that wasn’t saying much. “And the droids…” She had a faintly ugly look on her face.

“You’ve even ordered an Ion Cannon!” Her father continued angrily. “This isn’t how we raised you!”

“Mom, Dad, Padmé is just doing her best to protect us.” Sola said gently, trying to deescalate.

Padmé couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “The Trade Federation attacked us once, mother, father.” She said blankly. “They can and will do it again.”

“The Republic will rein them in!” Her father protested.

“The Republic is useless.” Padmé said coldly and they reared back in shock. Even Sola looked at her in surprise, “Gunray won’t even get a slap on the wrist.” She said bitterly. Anakin had yet to be wrong, and she didn’t believe he was about to start. “If I hadn’t done what I did, in a few years we’d be seeing those Lucrehulks fly above us again.”

“That is ridiculous!” Her mother protested. “The Senate HAS to act!”

“You weren’t there with me on Coruscant. You didn’t see what I saw.” Padmé walked away towards a window, looking out of the palace. “We had proof! Holofootage of the invasion! They ignored it. Called it fake. Me a lying whore! Called for a vote of no confidence on Valorum just to make the others forget about the evidence. I had half a mind to secede then and there!”

“Padmé.” Her father gazed at her in shock.

“I’m sorry if I disappoint you father, but I won’t simply turn my cheek and present it for a second slap. I will do what I must to protect us.” Padmé said and stormed out of the room, ignoring their calls.

He embraced her once more when she finished recounting the disastrous visit. She clutched onto him, feeling sad and helpless all at once. He simply offered comfort, and when she had calmed down, she kissed him again. It lingered longer than their previous one, and she longed for them to become truly official so she could do this all the time. When she pulled back, she looked him in the eyes. “I love you.” She said quietly and his heart squeezed, “And I trust you utterly. But I know you’ve been keeping secrets. Secrets you think I won’t like. But I need to know.”

“I know.” Anakin replied softly, “I can only hope you don’t hate me when I’m done.”

“Never.” She said vehemently. “Now please, Ani… tell me everything.”

He chuckled humorlessly, “That would take months.” He shook his head and grabbed her hand, guiding her to the sofa. He sat back, rubbing his chin as he wondered how he wanted to handle this. Smirking lightly, he began, “Truthfully, Naboo and the Trade Federation were nothing more than pawns in a much larger game.” And immediately, Padmé felt horrified shock ripple through her. “Everything starts thousands of years ago with the Je’daii Order. It was an order of Force Sensitives that believed in both the Light and Dark Sides of the Force.”

“Are you giving me a history lesson?” She asked incredulously.

“Patience, my angel, patience. I am going somewhere with this.” He said, earning a blush. “The Order eventually experienced a schism between the two sides, and that led to the creation of the Jedi and the Sith. And for thousands of years, the two sides were at war. First starting with the First Great Schism as the Jedi persecuted anyone with even scholarly interest in the Dark Side, and later with the Hundred-Year Darkness, Sith Wars, and finally New Sith Wars.”

“Yes, I know my history.” Padmé said archly. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.” Anakin said intensely, “For the Sith were finally exterminated at the end of the New Sith Wars, leading to the Ruusan Reformations.”

“Again.” Padmé’s eye twitched, “What does this have to do with anything?! I know my history, Anakin!”

Anakin smirked, “What this has to do with everything, is that a mere decade later, it was discovered a Sith had survived Ruusan.” Padmé’s eyes widened, “After a major fight ending with the death of the Order’s leader at the time at the hands of Darth Bane, a second team was sent. And finally, the Sith were extinct.” The utterly sardonic smile on his face makes everything clear.

Padmé stared at him with the most disbelieving, ‘you have GOT to be kriffing kidding me’ look on her face.

Anakin chuckled, “Not only did Darth Bane survive that second attempt, but so did his apprentice. He created a new Sith Order in the shadows. The Apprentice learned all she could from her Master before she killed him. She then took her own Apprentice, teaching him everything before he killed her. And so on, and so on, creating the code of the Banite Order: The Rule of Two. A Master to have the power, and an Apprentice to covet it.”

“I don’t want to kill you!” She shrieked, backing away. Anakin blinked before snorting and beginning to laugh. “It’s not funny!” She yelled, blushing brightly.

“Padmé, love, I have five Apprentices.” Anakin continued to laugh.

Her face flamed red. “Oh.” She said lamely.

He settled down, “But just because I’m not a Sith Lord doesn’t mean I don’t know who is and who was. Does the name Hego Damask ring any bells?”

She frowned severely, “Yes, it does. He was the head of Damask Holdings… the same financial group that was heavily involved in Bon Tapalo’s election to King… and who helped negotiate the old Plasma deal.”

“Yes, curious isn’t it?” Anakin asked, “Not so curious when you realize Hego Damask II was merely the public face of the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.”

Fury rose on Padmé’s face. “I see.”

“No, you don’t.” Anakin sighed. “Not yet.” His face was solemn, “Plagueis was the Master. But he had an Apprentice, like all Sith before him. Sheev. Palpatine.”

All the blood drained out of Padmé’s face. “No.” She said, utterly horrified. Her mind raced as she went over all of the events of the past few months. Everything now made sense with that missing context. Why The Trade Federation had chosen Naboo to blockade and invade. Why Palpatine had asked her to call for the vote of no confidence. Even why Anakin had been goading the newly-elected Chancellor upon his arrival. Something that she would find amusing later, but not now. Everything was recontextualized and Padmé was furious. “Everything was to set up his election. The blockade, the invasion, it was all him! He planted the false evidence against Valorum!” And as her mind whirled, her heart ached over the fact that it would have worked perfectly if it hadn’t been for Anakin. She would have been not only complicit but actively responsible and supportive over the rise of a karking Sith Lord to Chancellor over the entire Republic!

She was hyperventilating, and she had to close her eyes. She had to center herself. To give her anger and despair over to the Force. To calm down. It took several minutes, but she finally opened her eyes. “Why haven’t you stopped him?” Her bottom lip trembled, “Is he that powerful?”

“No. I could easily kill him.” Anakin said confidently. He knew too much about Palpatine and how he fought while the reverse was completely untrue to not be confident. “His goals are twofold:” Anakin said, “Firstly, the complete eradication of the Jedi Order.” Padmé flinched slightly, “And you already know the other goal. The dissolution of the Republic and establishment of the First Galactic Empire.”

“Again, why aren’t we STOPPING him?!” Padmé yelled.

“Because regardless of what I do or don’t do, this Republic is dead. It won’t matter if it takes ten years or fifty. There’s too much tension between the sectors. Too much crime and underprivilege in the Outer Rim. The Republic has grown too big to survive its own weight. There’s too much disparity between the Core and the Rim. Too much wealth in one with too little in the other. Too little representation. Too much greed. Too many megacorporations draining the galaxy of resources while leaving scraps for everything else. The collapse of the Republic is inevitable.” Anakin said, watching as her face drooped with sadness, “And for as much as I despise Darth Sidious, I know him. I can predict him, Padmé. I know what his goals are. How he’ll accomplish them. I even know the timeline that it will involve. And I can work to get us the best possible outcome from it.”

Padmé stared at him and swallowed heavily. “That’s… Ani… none of my visions have ever been even a quarter as clear as that. That’s not just inside knowledge. That’s intimate knowledge. That’s prescient. HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THESE THINGS?!”

It was time. Anakin had been dreading this for over two years at this point, but there was no more avoiding it. “I know all these things… because I’ve lived them all before.”

Padmé stared at him in incomprehension. He could practically see smoke escaping from her ears. “What did you say?” She whispered.

“I’ve lived all of this, Padmé.” Anakin said sadly.

She shook her head, “No.” The shaking increased in intensity, “No, you are NOT tell me that you’ve- YOU’VE…” She struggled, before eventually spitting, “TIME TRAVELED.”

Anakin scratched the back of his head, “Honestly, I’m more convinced I’ve been dropped in an alternate reality than I’ve time traveled.” He said, somewhat timidly. She stared at him in disbelief, “There are… differences.” He finished lamely.

Her nostrils flared. “Like?”

“Well, my younger self is two years younger than he should be.” He raised a finger and Padmé staggered from that bomb, “Aayla is nine years younger than she should be. Around this time she should have been finishing her training as a Jedi Knight.” Padmé stared as he raised another finger. “And I legitimately have no idea who Kali is. I never met anyone like her before.”

Padmé continued to stare. She stared for so long that the silence grew uncomfortable. Finally, she whispered, “How long.” She continued to look him in the eyes, “HOW LONG, ANAKIN?!”

“Decades.” He said.

She closed her eyes and covered her face. She stayed like that for over two minutes. Her Force Presence was whipping violently as she struggled to control herself. “That’s why.” She finally dropped her hands, “That’s why you refused to start a relationship with me. Why you never initiate kisses with me.” She fell limp as tears pooled in her eyes. “Am-Am I just a replacement for her? For the other me?!”

“NO!” Anakin’s voice actually shook the room. “Padmé, I would never think of you like that. I swear that to you. You are your own person and are very different from her already. I will always miss her. I admit that. But you are not a replacement. This past year with you has been wonderful, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love you for you, not because you’re her younger self. Truthfully, at this point you don’t even have a whole lot in common beyond your bravery and your beautiful heart.” He said, looking her in the eyes.

She stared blankly at him, still feeling devastated. “Tell me everything.” She said blankly.

“I don’t have to tell. I can show.” He said, reaching out a hand. She hesitated, her trust in him having been frayed beyond belief with his revelation. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and then grabbed it.

And then she was somewhere else when she opened her eyes. A blackness that only they existed in. Time had no meaning here. And then there was a flash, and she was watching as she met little Anakin on Tatooine for the first time. She watched as the selfless little slave boy helped them off the planet. As Palpatine manipulated her into betraying their strongest supporter. As they took back the planet but with many more Gungan casualties and with the death of Qui-Gon Jinn. It fast forwarded then. She watched as Anakin had a bumbling but endearing conversation with her when they finally reunited ten years later that she had to get away from because the feelings that rose within her when she saw him were inappropriate. She watched as he saved her from assassination. She watched as he took her to Naboo away from her senatorial duties to protect her. She watched them fall in love. Events whirled by her mind. Battles. Temporary moments of peace. Fear. Her struggles as Palpatine tore more and more power away from the Republic she loved for himself. Her pregnancy.

She sobbed as she watched his nightmares, fed to him by a heartless Sith Lord. As he suffered sleep deprivation for over a month, jumping at shadows. She sobbed more as he lost himself and hurt her and others. He held nothing back, knowing she had to see everything. She had to be held back from attempting to rescue a shadow from an agonizing bath in lava. She sobbed as she saw her own life drained to sustain her husband by Sidious, leaving her children alone in the galaxy and forcing them to be separated. She retched as she saw his vile acts as Darth Vader, a depressed, broken man. A slave once more. She watched with utter sadness as he worked tirelessly to learn the secrets of Midichlorian Manipulation to bring back the one light of his life… only to discard the technique once he succeeded because he knew she would have hated what he became. She watched as he unknowingly tortured their daughter and felt numb as he forced her to watch as Alderaan was destroyed. Watched as their son destroyed that abomination of a machine the Empire had created. Events continued to whizz by. Battles. Heartbreak. And finally, rapture as Anakin finally threw off his shackles and sacrificed himself to save Luke and end that son of a schutta who had been responsible.

She marveled at what the Force was capable of when she saw him reconcile with their children. She watched as he started a desperate search for her in the Living Force, reuniting with her at last. She nearly screamed in fury as she saw the mistakes of the Old Republic being repeated with the New. She watched as Leia was ostracized despite all of her dedication, blood, sweat, and tears, all because of who her father was. She watched as Luke became a shell of himself. As he recused himself from the galaxy as the First Order began to destroy all that her children had built.

By the end, she had no more tears left to cry. She could feel the ghostly presence of her other self and understood what Anakin had meant by them being different. She had been decades older when she bitterly realized the Republic was a worthless institution. She had no more emotions left, completely overwhelmed as she saw rage engulf Anakin. As he tore a hole through time and space at her behest to fix things. She watched, feeling nothing as he came back. As he cloned himself to get rid of his old, broken body. As he gave her Force Powers her other self never had. As he took Ahsoka from the Jedi Order and saved Aayla, Kali, himself, and his mother from slavery. As he began to teach them. And finally, he ended with their entirely coincidental first meeting.

She staggered as they came back to reality. No time at all had passed. Or at least the chrono had barely moved. Anakin was sweating, the exertion of showing her everything taking a toll even on him. He was gasping for breath as much as she was. He had to relive all of it too.

“I…” She finally managed to gasp out. “I need some space.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. He stood and looked at her. “I love you, Padmé. Even if you doubt everything else, don’t doubt that.” She didn’t respond and refused to look at him when he walked out of the room.

Neither of them got much sleep that night.

-]|[-

Time went on, and the rest of the palace immediately noticed something was different. Padmé and Anakin barely talked with one another and neither looked to be sleeping well. Anakin threw himself into his work, getting the Lucrehulks back up and running and configuring a new droid control module. He taught the Naboo Defense Forces how to actually pilot such massive vessels and ran war games on the simulators to actually prepare them in the event of an attack. He did keep one of the Lucrehulks for himself though. It would be very useful as a carrier: its originally intended purpose.

He also repurposed many of the Vulture droids. He thought it made no sense for Naboo to be the only celestial body within the System to have high quality Plasma. Upgrading the vulture droids with scientific modules in place of their weapons systems allowed him to scour the rest of the system for sources of plasma. Hopefully sources that were much more easily accessed than within Naboo’s crust.

He actually hit paydirt with that approach and discovered that many of the larger asteroids floating around actually had varying quantities of the plasma within them. One of the dead moons also had a surprisingly large quantity within. It was one of the few moments of reconciliation he and Padmé had, when he took the new information to her and her council. The Nabooan government immediately started drawing up plans for asteroid crackers and space-based refineries once they consulted with the droids Anakin had programmed with the stolen knowledge.

Padmé, on the other hand, threw herself into her work with the new treaty with their neighbors. She was hard at work with Boss Nass as they planned a Gungan colonization of Ohma-D’un, Naboo’s largest moon and a water world that the aquatic people would love. They also set up trade and even had Gungans set up a single above-ground settlement to help that along.

She and Anakin didn’t get much chance to talk. She frankly didn’t want to talk. It had been too much to absorb all at once and she needed the space. During training, she didn’t join either the kids or her handmaidens. She preferred to spar alone against her PROXY. But her mind wasn’t in it, and she was rapidly becoming frustrated. Her usage of the Force was slipping too, and everyone was noticing that she was unwell. She wasn’t working through everything. She was just bottling it up and it was affecting everyone around her. She was snapping more and making mistakes she never had. Everyone around her was worried.

It was actually Sabé who broke the status quo when she asked an innocent question. “Padmé, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Padmé spat, not looking up. Not until she unintentionally crushed a glass on her desk, sending shards and juice flying. Both girls squealed in shock and fear as Padmé nearly overturned her chair to get away from it. They stared at the desk before Sabé hurried over.

“Oh, Padmé! Are you hurt?” She repeated as she looked over her best friend for injuries. Padmé just wanted to say yes. She wanted to be alright. Instead, she choked back a sob and instantly found herself in Sabé’s arms. “Padmé, this has to stop.” She hugged the Queen tightly. “Please, talk to me!”

“I’m not okay.” Padmé finally let out all her emotions, burying her face into Sabé’s chest as she began to sob.

“What happened?” Sabé asked gently, “I know you haven’t been sleeping well. You’ve had bags under your eyes for weeks.”

“I can’t tell you.” Padmé mumbled into her best friend’s chest.

“Yes you can! You can tell me anything!” Sabé protested.

“No.” Padmé shook her head as she tried to calm down. “No, I… this is something only me and Anakin can work through.”

“I knew it.” Sabé bit back a groan. “Was your fight really that bad? You haven’t spoken outside of a meeting in weeks! Everyone can see how kriffing miserable you both are!”

“I…”

“No, seriously. Everyone can see it! What the kriff happened?!” Sabé bit her lip, “I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.”

“No, you have.” Padmé said and pulled away. “I was just… pretending I was alright and not actually confronting it. This… popped the cork, as it were.” She let out a shuddering breath as she wiped her face.

“If he hurt you-” Sabé started to snarl, but Padmé put a finger on her lips.

“He told me things I didn’t want to hear.” Padmé said, “I can’t give you any details, but thank you, Sabé.”

Sabé stared deep into her best friend’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

Padmé nodded. “I-Please send Anakin to my room in an hour. And have the entire floor vacated. It’s… long past time he and I actually spoke again.” Sabé nodded back, kissed Padmé on the forehead and went to fulfil her duty.

…

“You wanted to see me?” Anakin asked cautiously as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Padmé ignited her training saber without saying a word. Anakin raised an eyebrow before his black lightsaber flew into his hand of its own accord, and he ignited it. He didn’t speak again as he circled with her.

She made the first move, lashing out with a heavy overhand strike that he blocked, holding them in a blade lock. Neither said a word as she attacked and attacked. Anakin wasn’t sure he liked this direction she had chosen but far be it for him to tell someone off for aggressive negotiations. After several minutes of this and sensing her conflict with the Force, he felt he had to speak. “You’re conflicted.”

And it was like a dam had broken. “Conflicted?” She snarled sarcastically, “Oh no, I’m not conflicted. Why would I be conflicted? It’s not like the love of my life is from decades in the future or anything! It’s not like he manipulated me since we met! It’s not like he became a monster for decades!” She lashed out harder and harder, “It’s not like the future is bleak no matter how I look at it! It’s not like a kriffing Sith who is ready to tear the galaxy apart with war and death is sitting in the Chancellor’s seat or anything!” She lost her focus and started to just swipe at him wildly. He parried with just enough force to unbalance her. She continued to rant regarding the possible and concrete futures he’d shared with her: One version ruled by a madman; another version where thousands of warlords take the place of civilized discourse; another yet where nothing changed and the Republic continued to be corrupt for decades to come.

Anakin sighed and gave her training saber a harder smack, knocking it from her hands. She let it go, falling to her knees in emotional and physical exhaustion. She began to cry as she looked up at him. “Why?” She sobbed out, “Why can’t I hate you?”

He cautiously extinguished his saber and knelt before her. He didn’t even have a chance to make a move before she buried her face into his neck and started to sob harder. “I’m sorry, Padmé.” He ground out, trying to keep from crying too. “I never wanted to hurt you. You’re the last person I ever wanted to hurt. And if you decide you want nothing to do with me because of this, then I will leave. It’ll be the most painful thing I’ve ever had to do, but if it’s what you want…”

She pulled away from him as he trailed off, looking into his beautiful, teary eyes. ‘I suppose that really is the question, isn’t it?’ She thought to herself. ‘Could I be happy without you?’ It was a question that, once she dared ask it to herself, she knew the answer without even thinking about it. She couldn’t. He was a part of her, for better and for worse. Anakin had done everything to give them a better future. If she tried to force him away, if she tried to find someone else in the future, she would always compare them to Anakin and find them lacking. He completed her and she him and kriff everything else. She reached out and clapped her hands to both of his cheeks. “Don’t you dare push me away this time.” She growled at him.

And then she pressed her lips to his. And unlike every other time they kissed, this time he fully reciprocated. He pulled her closer to him and she swore she saw stars as he finally unleashed his hunger for her. When they finally pulled away, they both were breathing hard, and she was completely in his lap. “Wow.” She mumbled weakly.

He let out a short chuckle as he picked her up and set her on her feet. He raised his hand, rubbing her cheek. She kissed him again, though it was once again just another peck. “What are your plans?” She asked, “What are our plans?” She corrected himself.

“That all depends on what you want, Padmé.” Anakin replied, “I know what I want to do, but if you tell me that it’s stupid then I’ll go off and kill Palpatine right now and kark the consequences.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him off to her bed. “Tell me everything.” She asked once she was molded to his side.

Anakin sighed and nodded, “In all the time I experienced, both living and dead-” That still was mind-numbing to contemplate for her, even with everything he’d shown her, “The Empire was by far the most stable.” He said softly. “The Old Republic wasn’t peaceful or stable; it was just quiet. The New Republic had some of the most mind-bogglingly dumb leaders I’ve ever seen to the point I’m half wondering if it wasn’t a fever dream.”

“I can’t believe it didn’t even take one century for it to be consumed by corruption once more.” Padmé shook her head at the ridiculousness of it.

He nodded, “The Empire may have been evil beyond measure, but that was because of its leaders. Palpatine literally got stronger due to the suffering in the galaxy. He was fueled by it. I was a depressed, broken shell of a man who did everything my Master commanded. A slave who thought he was free, unable to see the chains weighing him down. And the Empire’s leadership was full of squabbling fools who were constantly backstabbing each other for a scrap more of power.”

“Ah yes, sounds very stable.” Padmé deadpanned.

He chuckled dryly, “I know, I know. But again, that was because of its leadership. There wasn’t any squabbling in an ineffective Senate. If a decision needed to be made, it was simply made. Crime is impossible to stamp out entirely, but even the Hutts were forced to bow their heads. What the Empire did right was rule from a position of strength. For all of its faults, the galaxy was secure. If it hadn’t been for Palpatine’s madness, racism, and him being drunk on the Dark Side… He wouldn’t have made mistake after mistake and alienated world after world. Had he been satisfied with the destruction of the Jedi, it isn’t all that unlikely that it could have lasted. But he was pure evil. If there wasn’t suffering around him, then he was like an addict who was having his fix denied.”

Padmé said nothing for a few moments. “What paths can you see for the galaxy going forward?”

“There are multiple paths.” Anakin said, “But all of them will involve strife. In one, Palpatine wins again, and, well, you saw where that will lead. Pure evil leading from a position of unrelenting strength.”

Padmé shuddered, “That kriffing Death Star.”

“Yeah.” His face was pinched, “In another path, we kill Palpatine now. The Republic will just limp on for another few years, maybe a few decades. It won’t matter. The Separatist Crisis will happen. It’s simply inevitable at this point. Too much bad blood. If we’re early enough, then the Separatists don’t have Dooku as their leader. There will be conflict, but whether it’s as a united coalition or as hundreds of smaller fiefdoms is up in the air.”

“I could become a Senator again.” Padmé said, “Chancellor eventually. With Palpatine gone, I can change things for the better without his interference…”

“I know you want to fix things from within.” Anakin smiled at her, “I love that about you. How optimistic you are.” She blushed, “But you’d be climbing a cliff with sheer faces with the people at the top throwing boulders at you. And that’s just the influential idiots who want more power. It’s like I said… the collapse is inevitable at this point. Palpatine isn’t the architect or even the linchpin anymore, merely the one who is taking advantage of all the work. The Sith have worked in the shadows for a thousand years to bring the galaxy to this point. It’s a machine that is self-sustaining now. You’d have centuries of work ahead of you and even without the Sith, you’d still be facing assassinations and censure because too many of those greedy schuttas wouldn’t want to lose their power.”

She clenched her fist, “Damn it, Anakin, I loved democracy before you came into my life. You’re asking me to betray all of the principles I was raised with! Everything my parents ever taught me!”

“I know, love, I know.” He said, before moving so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “And I know we’ll make mistakes. That’s inevitable. But we can do it. You, me, the kids, we can make a better future for this galaxy. A better future to raise our children in.”

“I never would have believed that if I hadn’t seen everything I did.” Padmé said, closing her eyes. “The worst part is that I know you’re right.” She whispered, “The galaxy is broken. The government is broken. The Jedi are broken. The system just… doesn’t work.” She let out a shuddering breath. “It all needs to be broken down and replaced.” Admitting it out loud felt like she was betraying something important, but it felt freeing too.

“Exactly.” Anakin rubbed his thumb on her cheek. “What we need is a just leader. One who can make the hard decisions without being constantly dogged and plied by greedy people with only their own self interests in mind.”

“…My people will hate me.” Padmé said softly.

“No, they won’t.” Anakin said, “You didn’t see it in the visions because I was only focusing on the major events, but your people wanted you to be Queen for life. They wanted to activate that part of your constitution and make Amidala a true monarchy.” Padmé’s eyes were wide. He smiled, “You are Naboo’s Hero. The one who fought for her people when no one else would. Your people adore you.”

Padmé flushed bright red. “That’s…” She hid her face in his chest. He chuckled and massaged her scalp, making her moan. After a few moments, she lifted her head again, “But if we’re to be a power in the galaxy, we’ll need a military. And my people are pacifists…”

“So we give them a worthy target.” Anakin smirked. “A target every just and good person in the galaxy should want to face.”

She looked at him cluelessly for a moment, before it hit. “The Hutts!” She breathed out.

“Not the Hutts.” Anakin replied, “Slavery.”

Padmé stared for a moment, before smiling widely, “A target even the Senate couldn’t publicly complain about.”

“Precisely.” Anakin said, “We’ll need allies, of course. I already have a few in mind.”

“If we’re going to have allies, then an Empire doesn’t work.” She said immediately, “Not without betraying them before the finish line, and that I won’t abide.”

Anakin nodded, “We’ll workshop it.” He said, since he hadn’t considered that.

“Okay, moving on. How will we actually build up our forces?” She asked, “Naboo has no shipyards and no military training even if we did have them.”

“You let me handle ships.” Anakin smirked, “We’ll have to start slow and supplement with droids. The Revenant was built as a warship for a reason. I was always going to work to free slaves no matter what happened.” He replied, “We start taking out smaller slavers and freeing slaves, relocating them here to Naboo. Like I’ve already been doing. The vast majority will just want peace, I’m sure. We educate them and give them a better life. But there will be others who are ready to drive screws into the slavers themselves. We offer them military training.”

“Dangerous.” Padmé said softly, “Too many who want to fight will just be in it for revenge. We have to maintain the moral high ground. We can’t do that if our men are just committing atrocities of their own.”

“…Psychological screening.” Anakin said after a few moments.

Padmé thought about it and nodded. “That could work.” She would have said more, but she then let out a massive yawn.

He smiled, “Sleep, love.” He kissed her gently, “If you’ve been sleeping anything like I have, I know exactly how tired you are.”

She yawned again, “Stay.” She commanded as she rested her head on his chest. It only took a few minutes for them to be snoring away.

-]|[-

When she woke up the next day, it was to an empty bed. She frowned as she sat up, before she started to smell something delicious. And then her bedroom door opened, and Anakin stepped in with a large tray. Her eyes widened as she looked at him and he smiled at her. “Morning sleepyhead.”

“Did you make me breakfast in bed?” She asked, feeling touched.

“Well, I don’t know if I would call it breakfast at this hour.” Anakin gave her a teasing smile, and she looked at her chrono.

She let out a shriek and started to tear out of her bed, “You let me sleep for twelve hours?! Oh Force, I have so many things-”

“You have nothing to do today, Padmé.” Anakin interrupted her. “Everything has been canceled and the whole palace knows not to bother you.” She stared at him, wide-eyed as he put the tray before her. “Eat. I know you must be hungry.”

“…Only if you join me.” He nodded and did so as they began to eat. He had made all of her favorites, and she nearly began to cry when she realized something. Once they were full, she used the Force to move the tray to her bedside table and pulled him in for a hug. “I never apologized.” She whispered to him.

“For what?” He asked in confusion.

She stared at him, before shaking her head sadly. “For being such a brat.” She was able to keep herself from tearing up, “You’ve done everything to try and help us prepare for the coming darkness and-”

“Padmé.” Anakin interrupted her, smiling, “You weren’t being a brat. Your people suffered a blockade and an invasion. Your parents acted like brats over you trying to defend your people. And to top it all off, I dropped a bomb on your head. You were overwhelmed, and I would have been more worried if you didn’t have a breakdown.” He became serious once more, “But now I think you know it’s time to move past it. You need to center yourself, because our… duel-” Again, his smirk became teasing and she glared slightly, “-last night was entirely unlike you.”

“I know.” Padmé said miserably, “I even snapped at poor Sabé! She didn’t do anything to deserve it. It was a miracle I didn’t snap at anyone else. But my meditations haven’t been going well.”

“It’s hard when you’re unbalanced.” Anakin agreed, “Despite the Jedi Order not being something I believe in any longer, sometimes a mantra can help you in dark moments.”

“Well I’m certainly not going to adhere to that garbage.” Padmé retorted. “But I think you’re right. We’ll all need a Code. Once all the violence and trauma is finished, there will be plenty of Force Sensitives who will need education.” She smiled up at him, “You’re going to want to build a new order, aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” He smiled back and nodded. “Maybe the old Code, then? The one they abandoned after the Reformations?” He asked her before reciting it. “Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.”

She wrinkled her nose, “It’s better than the new one… but it doesn’t feel right either.” She chewed on her lip for a bit, “Just out of curiosity, what’s the Sith Code?”

He snorted, “Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion, I gain Strength. Through Strength, I gain Power. Through Power, I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. The Force shall free me.”

She scowled, “Bantha poodoo.” She spat, “It’s real rich for the Sith to yap about freedom.” The thought of him in that horrible suit for decades made her ache for him.

Anakin snickered and nodded his head, “Like the Sith themselves, the Code is a lie to lure you in with honeyed words. The Sith break no chains other than perhaps the true Dark Lord’s. Everyone else is a slave to the Master. And usually, even the Master is a slave to the Dark Side.”

“Did the Je’daii have a code?” Padmé asked, once again curious.

“If they did, it was lost long ago. Or at least, I never learned it.” Anakin said, “It would have been in the forbidden sections of the Archives only Masters could access, and they never made me a Master. And then we burned the temple down.” He winced.

She smiled up at him, “Then maybe we can find our own code?”

“Together.” He smiled back and sat on the bed. They crossed their legs and closed their eyes. She reached out for him, grasping his hands and lacing their fingers together. She did her best to find the peace that had once come to her so easily, and for the first time since Anakin had revealed the truth, she was able to meditate. They began to float of their own accord and Anakin shared some more memories. She had already seen all of the important things, so he shared smaller things now. Memories of Luke and Leia. She shared memories from before they had met. Of simpler times.

Finally, they opened their eyes, and they both realized they were in a vision. It was a temple that had seen better days, surrounded by mountains. Forests dotted the landscape, and the skies were a beautiful purple. Above them, two moons were crossing the sky, one white and one red. Anakin wanted to gasp as he realized where they were. It was Tython. This temple must have been the ruin of the Je’daii Order. But he couldn’t gasp. It was like the Force itself was in control of his body.

He looked at Padmé and realized her eyes were glowing. His eyes must have been doing the same thing. They both leaned forward at once, resting their foreheads gently against one another. “There is no ignorance, there is Knowledge.” He whispered.

“There is no fear, there is power.” Padmé said back.

“I am the heart of the Force.” The line resonated completely with Anakin.

“I am the revealing fire of Light.” She had always been his north star.

“I am the mystery of Darkness.” It was something that he had been crushed under the weight of, because the Jedi repudiated it.

“In balance with chaos and harmony,” She smiled up at him.

“Immortal in the Force.” They both said as one, closing their eyes.

And then when they opened them again, they were back in Naboo, back in her bedroom. They looked at each other for a moment, before she sprang forward and knocked him onto his back as she kissed him, almost desperately. “Force, I’ve missed you so much. These weeks have been such a nightmare.”

“Same for me.” He said hoarsely, “Kriff, I thought I ruined everything. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” She said back, before they kissed again. “All of you, good and bad.” She lay atop him, resting her head on his chest. “I… let’s go somewhere else.”

“Varykino?” He asked with a teasing smile.

Her face lit up and she scrambled to her feet, grabbing his hand, “Yes! Today is our day. We can worry about the galaxy tomorrow.”

…

It was something they had needed. The two spent the day at her summer villa, away from prying eyes, away from their worries, away from everything. They played on the beach, swam their worries away, ate sweet fruits, and enjoyed a delicious dinner Anakin grilled up. Padmé could conclusively say it was one of the best days of her life, and she found all of the inner peace that had shattered and abandoned her weeks ago. Their bond became completely unbreakable, and they knew they were forever.

-]|[-