Mustafar

This is my version for an alternative scene from Revenge of the Sith where Padmé goes to Mustafar to get the truth from Anakin.

 

Padmé had just landed on the fiery planet of Mustafar, her hand resting on her forehead and wondering about the turmoil surrounding her. Before she’d left Coruscant, Obi-Wan had told her how Anakin had turned to the dark side and the terrible deeds he had done as an evil incarnation of himself. Obi-Wan wouldn’t lie – would he? No, he loves Anakin like a brother. What is the real truth? I have to know – I have to know what has become of my husband.

Gazing out of the large viewport, she saw her husband – and his rush to greet her. Without another thought, Padmé immediately got up from her co-pilot seat in her ship and went to meet Anakin.

 

“I saw your ship,” Anakin said as he embraced his wife. “What are you doing here?”

“I was so worried about you.” Padmé could barely contain her agitation as the thumping in her chest gained momentum. Her hands held onto Anakin’s upper arms, letting her know that he was real and right before her. “Obi-Wan – he told me terrible things.”

“What things?” Anakin asked in a strangely calm voice.

“He said you turned to the dark side.” Padmé had difficulty finding her words but she continued. “That you…killed younglings.”

Anakin dipped his head to his chest for a moment, a pang of guilt on his face and then brought it back up. “Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me,” he replied in a sweet voice and a look to match.

“He cares about us,” Padmé answered.

“Us?” The ire began to rise in Anakin’s throaty response.

Padmé nodded. “He knows.” She gently massaged his upper arms that her hands were still holding on to, not wanting to let go. “He wants to help you.”

A smile spread across Anakin’s lips as he inclined his head and then looked back at Padmé again.

Padmé’s glassy eyes bore into her husband’s orbs. “Anakin, all I want is your love.”

“Love won’t save you, Padmé. Only my new powers can do that.” You question all I’ve done for you, he silently thought as he looked at her irritably.

“At what cost? You’re a good person, don’t do this,” her voice softened and her eyes pleaded with him.

“I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother,” he said with determination. “I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of and I’m doing it for you – to protect you.”

Padmé placed her hands on Anakin’s face. “Come away with me,” she beseeched him, stroking his hair and face. “Help me raise our child, leave everything else behind while we still can!”

“Don’t you see?” Anakin smiled, confident in his words. “We don’t have to run away anymore.” There was a very slight pause and then he continued. “I have brought peace to the Republic.” He continued in spite of the look of shock on Padmé’s face. “I am more powerful than the Chancellor… I can overthrow him.” Padmé began to step back and away from him as he went on. “Together you and I can rule the galaxy. Make things the way we want them to be.”

Padmé backed up further and shook her head at the incredible statement Anakin had just delivered. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing. Obi-Wan was right – you’ve changed.” She felt as if a knife had just pierced her heart.

The annoyance was plain in Anakin’s voice as he looked away and then back at her again. “I don’t want to hear any more about Obi-Wan. The Jedi turned against me – don’t you turn against me!” he stated warningly.

Shocked and in disbelief, Padmé was on the verge of tears as she said, “I don’t know you anymore.” She paused as her emotions raged through her and then said, “Anakin…you’re breaking my heart. You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

Anakin’s jealously churned to the surface. “Because of Obi-Wan?” he asked accusingly.

“Because of what you’ve done,” Padmé replied, her voice shaking. “What you plan to do,” she courageously said, “Stop! Stop now, come back, I love you!”

“LIAR!” Anakin angrily shot back! “You’re with him – with Obi-Wan!” Anakin raised his arm, his hand reaching out to his wife and through the Force held her life in his hands.

“No,” Padmé shook her head while grasping her throat. “No,” she said again, her voice barely audible. “Anakin.”

The chokehold he held on her tightened as Darth Vader reveled in his power. With Anakin nearly extinguished, the Dark Lord would rule in his stead. The idea was…intoxicating.

 

But the unthinkable happened – he let go and Padmé fell unconscious to the ground.

The battle for supremacy began.

 

Staring down at his hand, the one that had just used the Force to harm his wife, Anakin stirred and disbelief shone in his eyes. “What have I done?” he moaned in dismay.

What had to be done, uttered a voice in his mind. A familiar voice – yet foreign at the same time.

“No, I-I didn’t mean to! This isn’t what I planned!” Anakin angrily retorted.

Anger fuels your power. You will learn how to control it.

“Power…the power to save Padmé,” he said almost whimsically.

Yes, power – remember what you have gained! You have the galaxy is at your feet and the ability to save the one you love but only using the dark side!

“The galaxy…” Anakin’s thoughts wandered for a moment before snapping back to the present. “She’s dead? I killed her?” Anakin’s eyes flared open in surprise.

No. She lives.

Anakin’s heart was beating wildly. “I only wanted to save her! I-I can’t live without her.”

Then use the dark side to bring her back.

“She’s not dead – you said she’s alive.”

But you’ve harmed her. She could die at any moment, the voice coolly responded.

“No, I won’t allow that to happen! She must be at my side.”

Even if you spare her life, she’ll never follow you down this path. You know that.

“She has to understand. She’s the reason I turned to the dark side! I couldn’t save her any other way!” he replied, anguished.

Is she? Weren’t you disillusioned by the Jedi? Didn’t they lie to you? Did they ever trust you? Were you ever truly one of them?

Anakin paused as his thoughts crashed together and reverberated in his mind. He momentarily swayed but caught himself before he could fall. “They didn’t understand me. They never wanted me to reach my full potential.”

And it angered you…didn’t it?

Anakin refused to answer at first and then, slowly, he admitted the truth to himself. “Yes…it did.”

Then the punishment they received was justice.

Anakin couldn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say to his alter-ego.

You understand. They wanted to rule the Republic but you stopped them. Rid yourself of Palpatine and you can rule the galaxy.

“Kill Palpatine.”

Yes, bring order to the Republic. It needs you.

Anakin clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. He wanted this to end and it was time to decide. The path lay before him; he only had to choose which direction to turn.

Darth Vader continued the internal struggle. Yesss, the power that still awaits you. There’s so much more you have to gain. We will be invincible! Worlds will crumble at our command.

“But – Padmé.”

She’ll either join us – or die.

Anakin shook his head from side to side, hoping it would stop the voice in his head from speaking. He didn’t want to hear any more. “Die?” The word suddenly impacted with the strength of a sandstorm. “No, she can’t die! You will NOT kill her! I won’t allow it!”

It’s too late. I have control.

“NOOOOO!” Anakin screamed above the sound of the churning lava. “Not at the risk of Padmé and our baby! No! I understand now!” Anakin fought against the invisible bonds that held him. Using the Force as his guide, he immersed himself in the energy. Albeit slowly, the light began to overtake the dark, but then the dark would retaliate and gain ground and the battle would renew itself. The internal conflict tore at Anakin’s conscious, making him relive how he had severed Master Windu’s hand, the slaughter he committed not only in the Jedi Temple, but against the Separatist leaders as well. He didn’t want to look – he didn’t want to see, but the Force gave him no choice. He had to face his crimes. He had to recognize the cold truth of his actions.  Only then, would the light side of the Force bath him in its sheer light and embrace its wayward son. There was much to atone for and Anakin felt overcome with grief as he watched in horror as his own cerulean lightsaber took the lives of younglings. He stood by as Darth Sidious pummeled Master Windu with Force lightning and Nute Gunray begging for mercy. It tore at his heart – he didn’t want to remember. It hardly mattered what he wanted, the Force wouldn’t let its son escape so easily.

His desolation had made him commit horrible atrocities and he could hardly believe what he was capable of, but the evidence was right before his eyes.

 

As the lighter side of the Force became more apparent, Darth Vader conceded that this battle had been lost, but there would be others as he whispered one last time in Anakin’s mind, I’ll be back. I’m part of your soul.

 

Feeling as though he couldn’t breathe, Anakin sank to his knees as his lightsaber fell from his grasp and clattered to the ground. His entire body felt numb but as he looked up and saw his wife’s body, he crawled over to her on hands and knees.

“Angel,” he groaned as he sat and cradled her head in his lap. “I-I’m so sorry,” he sobbed. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Anakin was stroking her cheek when Padmé’s eyes fluttered open a few minutes later. “Anakin?” she quietly inquired.

Anakin swallowed hard. “I’m here, Angel.”

Padmé’s hand came up to touch her husband’s face now wet from tears.“Are you alright?” she asked in a low voice.

Anakin could only nod as words eluded him.

Padmé closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she looked directly into Anakin’s eyes, searching for the truth.

“I’m alright…now, Padmé,” Anakin answered her silent question. “I – had become – a monster. The dark side…I…I don’t know what to say.”

“We’ll get through it together,” Padmé offered with a smile. “I love you, Anakin.”

“No.” Anakin shook his head. “I can’t risk hurting you or our child again. I have to go away.”

Padmé didn’t want to hear what her husband was telling her and fought against it. “You’re a good person, Anakin. You let go of the dark side. It won’t claim you again.”

Anakin paused before answering. “Yes…it can. I have control of it…for now. It’s a very powerful pull, Padmé. The temptation – is difficult to resist.” 

“Then I’ll help you. We’ll conquer it together.”

“I wish it were that easy, my love.”

“Obi-Wan – can he help?” Padmé reluctantly asked, her hand not straying from her husband’s face even as she remembered how that name had made Anakin react not very long ago.

Anakin took a deep breath. “No,” he answered, his voice quivering. “He’s probably dead. Darth Sidious planned… The Jedi…are no more.”

Shock registered on Padmé’s face. “All of them?” She recalled watching the smoke rise from the Jedi Temple back on Coruscant.

Anakin hung his head in shame. “I…I…killed everyone in the temple. Palpatine issued an order to kill any in the field.” It was all he could say. “My crimes are beyond redemption.”

Padmé was at a loss for words. She knew that the temptation Anakin had given into before was still too fresh to repel fully and yet… How could she not stand by him so he wouldn’t fall prey to that trap again? But at the same time she was repulsed by his actions. She didn’t want to believe what Obi-Wan had told her about the younglings but now… By his own admission, Anakin had solidified the Jedi Master’s claim. Part of her wanted to embrace him, while the other wanted to run from him. What happened to the little boy I met in Watto’s shop on Tatooine? The boy who so desperately wanted to help others even at the risk of his own life?

She struggled to stand and as Anakin reached out to help her, she rejected his effort. “No,” she stated as she stood and backed away.

“Padmé, no, please. Don’t be afraid!” he pleaded.

“I-I don’t know what to think, Anakin. You’ve taken the lives of innocent younglings even while you wait for the arrival of your own!”

Anakin bowed his head. “Yes,” he weakly admitted. “My only concern was for you and our baby. I believed Palpatine’s lies. He convinced me of what I had to do in order to gain the power I would need to save you.”

“Did you ever think that because you were with me that I wouldn’t die in childbirth?” Padmé heatedly castigated him.

Clearly by the look on Anakin’s face, Padmé had her answer.

“All you’ve done…all you planned to do – there was no reason for it,” Padmé gently but firmly told him. “Palpatine manipulated you and you played right into it.”

“I will face the punishment of my crimes,” Anakin dejectedly stated.

Padmé stood facing the man she loved beyond reason and yet couldn’t find the courage to forgive him, even though she wanted to. “The chancellor – will he?”

“Kill me for betraying him?” Anakin finished the question for her. “Yes. He won’t hesitate. Although, my crimes warrant my death anyway.”

Padmé stood paralyzed as the thought of her husband dying at the hands of Palpatine rushed to the forefront of her mind.

Anakin could sense the confusion and enmity in his wife. “Padmé,” he began, “I can’t undo the past.”

There he is – the man who cradled my heart and protected it. I can’t turn away from him. He is my life and I can help him. I know I can. Padmé’s eyes turned to glass as she slowly walked forward. “We’ll go to Naboo – no one will know. We can disappear.”

Anakin held out his arms and Padmé willingly fell into them. Turning her head, she listened to his heavily beating heart and declared, “I won’t let you fall to the dark side again!”

“My Angel,” he murmured, kissing her head. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me. I don’t know how I can be.”

“I’m sorry as well. Forgiveness is something we both have to do and it will take time. I should have been more persistent in finding out what was really going on. We spent so much time apart because of the war. All I could focus on since you returned was how happy I was that you were home. I should have realized how distraught you were.”

Anakin rested his head on top of Padmé’s. “The war changed me – I became battle hardened. I was the hand of death for the Republic and the Jedi. The Jedi could always count on me – so could Obi-Wan…” Anakin’s voice began to fade as he spoke his Master’s name.

“I can count on you,” Padmé assured him.

“If only the Jedi had given me more faith, but I was always an outcast. Master Windu never accepted me and none of them trusted me.”

Although Anakin couldn’t see her face, Padmé cast her gaze downward. “I failed you as well, Anakin.”

“No, you were there when I needed you most.” Suddenly tears welled up once more in his eyes as he continued, “I-I couldn’t bear to lose you. When I had that nightmare all I could think of was how I could stop you from dying. The Chancellor…he promised so much and in my desperation, I listened. I…never…considered the consequences.”

Padmé’s arms tightened around her husband. “We can conquer this together, Anakin. You have to believe that.”

“Sidious will find me.”

Padmé leaned back, partially breaking their embrace and stared into Anakin’s blue eyes. “When the time is right, I know you’ll confront him again.”

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Part II