(Video)

[politicallyinclined]

Has anyone seen Luke? I can't find him. (She is doing her best to remain in control, to not panic, but the strain is easy to see on her delicate features.)

It's possible he went off on his own... (Skywalkers and their adventures.) but he should still see this, right?

(In her heart, she knows the truth.)

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[nouskaiananki]

[ Vader had been gone before she woke that morning and he's been scarce since. A causal self-centeredness born of the Dark Side Anakin hadn't often shown. But he answers via voice, in a manner tightly controlled she's never heard of him before. It's Vader's voice.

But it echoed the difference between her natural voice and Queen Amidala, and Palpatine's mask and his true voice in reserve of her's. ]

He's no longer here my lady.

[politicallyinclined]

(The distance is unnecessary - a defensive measure, surely? - and Padmé lets her concern and displeasure be known.)

Anakin, you know me. (And she knows him.) You're hurting as much as I am. Where are you? I didn't see you this morning and then when I went to look for Luke, I just...knew...he was gone.

[nouskaiananki]

[ Almost more offensive than defensive - almost. Having spent almost as much of his life as Vader than Anakin, stiff walls in places not impenetrably private were mandatory. This wasn't the holonet after all.

But the displeasure stings. More than anyone else's ever could. ]

An early training session.

[ Mostly: channeling his rage and grief into the local dangerous wildlife. ]

I'll return to you shortly.

[politicallyinclined]

(The sacrifices he has made to be with her, to protect their marriage, mean everything to her. She doesn't doubt that he kept them - all of the good they had found in one another - far from Palpatine. But it's in moments like this that she fears losing him.

And she refuses to let that happen.)

Don't be long. Rey and Link have contacted me; they are in one piece.

(Only...sad. Padmé is doing her best to mother both.)

[nouskaiananki]

[ She's here. Alive. The good between them died when she did, was reborn when he knew Luke was their's. Has been nurtured and grown here with children and grandchild needing him. She won't loss him now. But he can't break decades of silence and secrets. Her training as Queen helps her. He wasn't given that. ]

I won't be long. Half an hour, roughly.

[politicallyinclined]

(She can give him ways to cope; ways to work through emotions instead of succumbing to them. But his passion is one of the things she loves best about him. Until it becomes a monster he can't contain, that is.)

I will wait.

[nouskaiananki]

[ Ways of working through emotions is entirely what he needs to learn. At forty-four, he still doesn't truly have those skills. ]

[ True to his word however, he's there, joining her in their shared apartment in half an hour. He's still a little damp, having stopped at his issued apartment turned workshop to shower and change. ]

I am sorry.

[politicallyinclined]

[His apology isn't necessary. Padmé welcomes him with an embrace - one that requires her to stand on her toes. He probably won't feel it, but she needs to know he's here.]

He's fine. He has a great future ahead of him.

[nouskaiananki]

[ He can feel the pressure of it, at least. He's still quite shy about her touching him - similar to how he'd first been about his right arm. Worried his scarred, deformed, cyborg body would be rejected. But he has scar treating pressure garments on under his clothing, and it's thick enough to pad out some of it. And he's still - at least around her - himself to pick her up of the ground so she can wrap her arms around his next. ]

I want him here. With us.

[politicallyinclined]

(He is a silly man and though his body saddens her and frightens her (for his well-being), Padmé isn't disgusted nor is she even close to rejecting him. He is alive and he is Anakin. That's all she needs to know.)

I do too. (She smiles shakily when she is lifted, nestling against him.) He reminded me of when we were young. Everything seemed possible.

[nouskaiananki]

[ He may be silly, but when hadn't he been at least a little self-conscious when displaying a scar or injury to her? Although she's entirely right to be frightened for what this all means for his health.

Her slight weight against him is...almost as comforting as a hug from his mother ever had been. ]

Leia was like that as well.