A/N I'm sorry this took so long for me to finally post, but I had a huge case of writer's block when it came to this story. Thankfully it seems I'm finally getting out of my funk. As always this story is un-beta'd, and all the typos and grammatical errors are my own. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I am just writing this for fun.

"I don't do anything with my life except romanticize and decay with indecision." -Allen Ginsberg

Padmé absently scratched the back of her neck as she listened to the heavy rains beat heavily against the old roof of the safe house on Pantora that she, along with Rex and Ahsoka, were currently lodged in. The storm had been raging for the better part of an hour, and Padmé was growing restless inside the small dank shelter. After the transmission with Mon had been disconnected she struggled to find something to occupy her time until the storm had passed, but she was finding the task difficult. The safe house was low on distractions that would make the passing of time easier; all Padmé found was a deck of cards, an old databook written in a language she didn't understand, and a toy spaceship.

She toyed with the thought of cleaning and re-organizing the food pantry, but didn't feel like exerting the necessary energy. Padmé felt herself growing drowsy, and she was having difficulty keeping her eyes open. Even when she was a girl thunder storms had always made her sleepy.

Padméshuffled over to rest on the musty blue couch, and was welcomed by a large cloud of dust when she sat down heavily on the springy cushions. Padmé attempted to contain the loud wheezing sounds she made when the old dust flew into her nose and down the back of her throat. She wiped at the tears from her eyes, and once again wondered how she had found herself in this mess.

These past seven years she has tried not to think about the past; it was too painful to consider the possibilities in that tiny phrase what if, but now it appeared her past was doing everything it could to find her and she couldn't stop herself from ruminating on it. The first months after that day she would lie in bed and just try to wrap her head around what happened; the post-partum depression combined with the guilt made for unpleasant bed fellows, as she would lie awake at night she would cry over how naïve and blind she was, she couldn't believe how skillfully she was manipulated by someone she had trusted. And Anakin, she mourned for her husband and the life they could have had; the life that was stolen from them.

Padmé stopped her thoughts from wandering to Luke and Leia; if thinking about Anakin made her heart hurt, then thinking about her children made feel as though her breath was ripped from her lungs. Shaking the painful thoughts from her mind she curled up on her side, and tried to get comfortable on the lumpy sofa. She closed her heavy eyelids and let the sounds of the storm lull her into an uneasy slumber. Padmé could feel a pull in her stomach; it started in her gut until the uncomfortable tightening sensation was spread all through her limbs. Even in the haze of almost-sleep, she remembers this feeling; these-walking visions-were a rare occurrence in her life.

The room was cold, so cold that Padmé could see her breath in front of her when she released a shivering exhale. The room was unfamiliar to her, and completely black save for outside light that streamed in through the half opened blinds. She brought her hands up to rub her bare shoulders for warmth; she padded softly on the plush carpet towards the window to try to get her bearings. She peered through the blinds and saw the unmistakable skyline of Coruscant; she could see the Imperial Place just a block over and further into the distance the once proud Jedi Temple standing lonely against the night sky.

The swish of a door opening followed by the lights turning on forced Padmé's heart in her throat, she quickly turned around to see who had entered the room. Her breath halted, and her eyes widened when she saw who had entered the now illuminated bedroom. The daunting figure of Darth Vader strode swiftly into the room followed by a medical droid; neither of them noticed her shivering in a thin nightgown by the window and walked past her through a doorway she hadn't noticed until now.

Padmé stood there awkwardly before deciding to follow them into the other room. She knew she was dreaming, she felt a control over her body and actions that was absent during regular dreams.

The room looked like a mini medical bay; it was equipped with a stainless steel table and surgical droids which hung quiescent from the ceiling, there were vials filled with strange colored liquids all along the back wall, and menacing looking tools placed neatly on a white cloth near the table. Padmé felt a jolt in her stomach, she realized that this is where Anakin-where Vader-received his medical treatment. She didn't want to be in here; the realities of her estranged husband's injuries were something she didn't want to think about in too much detail. Thankfully, it seemed Vader wasn't here to have any serious medical procedures performed; he sat down stiffly on a bright white sterile chair that was in stark contrast to his black life support suit.

The suit; which when Padmé would catch glances of it on the HoloNet was always gleaming, but was now covered in dust, and something that may or may not have been blood.

"What can I do to assist you, Lord Vader?" The droid's mechanical voice inquired tonelessly.

The baritone voice merely replied, "I believe the sensors in my left foot have been damaged."

The droid immediately went to work on Vader's cybernetic appendage; the room was silent save for the hiss of Vader's mechanical breathing. Padmé inched closer to the med droid, her feet made no noise on the cold white tiled floor as she snuck up behind the droid. She stood on her tip toes and peered over its shoulder to glimpse at the complex wiring of his robotic foot. The droid poked at the wires with some type of thin metal rod that would sometimes produce quiet zapping noises. Padmé couldn't help remembering how ticklish Anakin's feet were, she supposes now he wouldn't even be able to feel the sensation of being tickled anymore.

(Not that anyone would ever try.)

She bit back a laugh and let her gaze roam from his feet over his body and finally landed on his mask. She studied the black mask with intense focus, she realized if she looked hard enough she could faintly see his eyes beneath the dark lenses. Her heart grew heavy; Anakin was so handsome, and his eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue, she couldn't help but lament that she would never see his unburnt face again.

She glided away from the droid, and began to snoop through the cabinets and drawers filled with medical supplies; even though she and Anakin were separated, she was still filled with a morbid curiosity about his personal life. As she snooped she wondered if he had any friends, or at least some acquaintances, she even briefly speculated if he had a girlfriend. She couldn't contain the burst of laughter that escaped her at the thought, and she quickly covered her mouth; afraid that they would somehow hear her, but the droid didn't even pause its work. She noticed Vader's helmet tilt in her direction for a moment, but turned back around to face the medical droid when it declared. "Completed; the sensors in your foot and ankle were dislocated from the wires that-," Vader waved off the rest of the explanation.

"Enough; have you repaired it?" He sat up awkwardly, and forcefully grabbed his boot from the droid and shoved it on his foot. He stood up and staggered for a moment while the sensors adjusted to his weight.

"Yes, It is repaired." The droid answered tonelessly.

Vader nodded towards the droid, and when he finally found his balance he steadily made his way towards the door and out of the small medbay. Padmé stood still as she watched him march past her; he was so close that she felt his swirling black cape brush along her toes. He stopped abruptly in the doorway and turned his head to look in her direction, she watched his fingers clench and his head cocked to the side; as if hearing something no one else could detect. After a second of hesitation he resumed his stride

The chill of the room crept back into her bones; Padmé slowly made her way back towards the bed room with the sensation of dread creeping in on her. Vader was gone by the time she reached the room but she still heard his voice carry darkly through the door.

"Find her. I don't care how you do it just bring her back. And the Emperor must not know."

Whoever he was speaking to answered with a brisk, "Yes, sir."

Padmé tried to rush out the door to follow him, but she felt as if she was moving in slow motion, the door suddenly stretched out before her; growing further away any time she drew near. Her vision blurred, and she felt a sharp tug in her belly button, the ground started to give way and the sensation of falling startled Padmé awake.

She awoke with a gasp, her heart fluttered in her chest; she could still feel the chill of the room on her skin. She sat up slowly on the couch and wiped away the sleep in her eyes. She looked at the chrono hung crookedly on the water-stained wall and saw that only a half an hour has passed. Padmé sighed, she rubbed the back of her neck and stood up, and stretching her limbs from the cramped position she curled herself into. The rain had seemed to subside, but thunder still rolled in the distance.

She padded over towards the comm terminal with hopes of reestablishing a connection with Mon. She typed in the familiar secure frequency and waited while the system struggled to connect. As she stood there she ruminated on her peculiar dream-if it was just a dream. When she was expecting the twins she would dream of things before they happened, but it was just a glass shattering or a seam ripping, nothing that would cause her to call them premonitions.

She remembers though, one dream that did come true, it was a warning, one that she didn't listen to.

She was only four months pregnant, her stomach was growing every day, and she worried that everyone would know her secret, no matter how loose the waistline of her dress was. She was dozing in her office on the small settee she used when entertaining colleagues, her feet propped up on the arm of the couch, and her palms rested on the swell of her belly.

She dreamt of Mustafar, of how the entire planet seemed covered in a red haze, the hot blistering winds that whipped across her face. She found herself on an outcropping of jagged black rocks, when she looked down below she could see two beams of blue light on the river of lava. She wanted to run down the steep hill and make them stop, but her body was too weak and cumbersome to do anything but watch helplessly. She opened her mouth to scream when the blade was raised to slash through flesh, but no sound escaped her lips. She woke up panting, with sweat beading along her brow. She still remembers the stench of sulfur lingering in the air of her office.

She tries not to blame herself; how could she have known?

Padmé was pulled out of her thoughts by the chime that indicated a connection had been made. The image of Mon was blurry, but she could still make out the words her friend spoke.

"Padmé, are you alright?" Mon asked, her tone full of worry.

"Yes, I'm fine. A huge storm is passing through and cut out communication." She explained. "Do you know if anyone else has been exposed?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"No, it appears that you are the only one that they are searching for. Whoever betrayed you has kept quiet about the rest of the Alliance." Mon explained with an edge creeping into her voice.

Padmé sat down and rubbed her hand across her forehead. "I think it was Pryia Vonn who told the Imperials about me." She confessed. "Her husband is an Admiral aboard the "Malice", there is a chance he discovered her affiliation with us, and she gave me up as a way to protect herself."

Mon was silent, and Padmé could see the weary slump of her shoulders, even in the fuzzy lines of the transmission projection. "That makes sense; I hate to say it, but you are the safest and easiest member to give up if anyone who knew about you were threatened with interrogation."

Padmé nodded her head, she hated hearing it, but it was the truth. She held no official rank within the Alliance, she had no permeant address, and to most of the galaxy she died seven years ago; she was a ghost. If the knowledge that she lived became public it would be a scandal, the media would be so focused on her that the fledgling Alliance would be able to remain in the shadows. Padmé knew one day it might come to this, so she ignored the sing of betrayal.

"I'm so sorry, Padmé." Mon said, breaking the silence.

Padmé breathe deep. "It's alright; I knew the risks, but it's not me I'm worried about. It's the…." She trailed off.

"Yes, I know." Mon understood. She had a child of her own; a daughter named Lieda. "Take comfort in knowing that they are safe, and loved, and unburdened by the darker things in life."

"Yes, but for how long?" She wondered.

"If they're anything like their mother, they will be strong and able to overcome any challenges life may bring."

Padmé smiled at the compliment and blinked back tears. She wished she had as much faith in herself as Mon seemed to have in her.

"Oh! Before I forget I have the prototype blueprint." Padmé remembered, quickly changing the subject.

"So that wasn't a ruse after all. Very good, is the information viable?"

"Yes, it's legitimate. But the boy who delivered it to me was arrested and taken back to his home planet for arraignment." She could feel the guilt rise in her stomach at the thought of the boy. "His name was Flint Hakim, do you think you could find out what happened to him?"

"I'll try to get some information on him." Mon promised. "And if I hear anything more about you I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Mon. I appreciate it. Here I'm sending you the information now." She slipped the disk into the drive and waited for it to transfer. When the small light flashed yellow she asked. "Did you get it?'

"Yes, it's here. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Padmé replied. "I'll let you go now. It must be late on Courscant right now."

"It's alright; I barely get any sleep nowadays." She sounded weary.

Padmé wished her friend a good night, and ended the transmission. She stood up, stretching her arms above her head, and began to pace. They couldn't hide out here forever, and with half the Imperial Navy looking for them, along with the huge bounty on their heads it would be impossible to stay on any planet for an extended amount of time. Padmé once again considered the futility in her actions, what was the point of running? It was confirmed Vader knew she survived, and it's unlikely that he would give up searching for her. It was one of his traits that first attracted him to her; his ambition.

Feeling a headache forming she walked back to the sofa, leaning her head on the back of the couch she sighed, and tried to clear her mind.

Before she could relax in the silence, the bedroom door swished opened and Ahsoka walked out followed by Rex.

"So what's the plan?" Ahsoka asked, sitting down next to her on the couch, and causing more dust to fly.

"I made contact with Mon, she said Vader is very aware of us and has placed quite a large bounty on each our heads."

Ahsoka waved her off. "No big deal. I already have a price on my head; if any slimy bounty hunters come for us I'll fight them off, no problem."

Padmé shook her head. "I don't know how you can be so blasé about this."

Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders in response. "So what else happened? Any word on who ratted you out?"

"We agreed it was probably Pryia Vonn; her husband is an Admiral, and maybe he found out about her allegiance to the Alliance, and she gave me up." It was Padmé's turn to shrug her shoulders. "But that's just a guess."

Ahsoka patted her shoulder and offered her an encouraging smile, "Don't worry, we'll keep you safe."

Padmé weakly returned her smile. She didn't share Ahsoka's confidence, but she appreciated the sentiment. She knew her time was running out, and all Padmé could do was watch the uncertain future rush unflinchingly towards her.