Redemption

Thirteen - Taken

"Anakin! Guess what, Ani? You won't believe..." Padmé started when she got back from her parents' house, but no one was in sight and the house was dark.

"Anakin!" she called. No response. She searched the house, ripping back curtains and pulling back closet doors, but there was no Anakin in sight.

Finally, after an hour of searching and trying to reach him by comlink or any other way possible, Padmé collapsed on the couch, burying her face in her hands and sobbing. The Empire took him, Padmé thought. Sidious took him. He wants to get back at me!

She stood up, wiping her tears from her face and sniffing. No, she told herself, I will not let him get away with this again.

Running upstairs, Padmé grabbed a suitcase, stuffing a cloak and an extra outfit in. She called Obi-Wan, asking him if he would be able to take care of the twins for a while. He accepted. She was relieved at that fact, but she still had Anakin to find and Sidious to take care of.

As soon as she entered her ship, she thrust her suitcase aside and sat in the pilot's chair, preparing to take off and land on the Death Star.

And no matter what happened, she would find her husband and bring him back home safely.

* * * *

Anakin groaned in agony and clenched his teeth as Sidious tortured him with another round of shocks of Sith lightning.

"Vader, you will answer me, now! Where are the plans for the second Death Star?"

"I'm not... going to tell you, Sidious," Anakin growled, licking his bottom lip from which he tasted blood. "I've hidden them, where no one will ever find them. No one needs to build another space station, where you will just breed more enemies against the rest of us. Stop trying."

Sidious raised his hands again, about to shoot another burst of lightning, but instead he grabbed Anakin's head and held it back, tight against the headboard of the chair he sat in. "Tell me, Vader, or I will kill every last bit of your precious wife, until she is no longer, and she will have absolutely no chance of survival." Sidious cackled at this. He had been trying to kill Amidala for the past fourteen years, and he hadn't succeeded.

"You wouldn't dare," Anakin hissed.

"Oh, yes. Yes," Sidious cackled.

Before Anakin could give his final reply, the buzzer went off and an armed Stormtrooper entered, flanked by several others.

"My lord. The trial is beginning," the Stormtrooper informed him.

"Good, good. We'll be there in just a few minutes..."

The Stormtrooper nodded and headed back out with the others, the door shutting behind them.

Sidious glared back at Anakin, who was sitting in his torture chair, broiling with anger.

"So you were saying?" Sidious prompted, staring Anakin in the eye.

"Fine. I'll tell you, Sidious. But your going to have to make one promise to me first."

"And what would that be?"

"When you kill my wife," Anakin started slowly, grinning, "would you make sure to kill her slowly? Make it clear that I wanted her dead."

Sidious cackled. "That's the attitude I was looking for." He helped Anakin out of the chair and kept his cuffs on, pushing him out the door and down the hallway to the interrogation room.

Anakin grinned slyly to himself. He couldn't believe he would get away with lying to Sidious. It was also hard to believe Sidious had believed his lie. He wouldn't let him get away with killing Padmé. Oh, I'm gonna dance my way around this one, Anakin thought to himself. I'll make sure to blow up the Death Star on my way out.