Title: The Broken Shell

Author: Chorus Girl

Summary: Sequel to The First Time (My other story, the AU of Revenge of the Sith in which Anakin chooses differently in fulfilling the prophecy when he overthrows Palpatine, to unite with Obi Wan Kenobi against an out of control Jedi Order to defeat Master Yoda and Mace Windu, who is left burning beside a bank of flowing lava on Mustafar. Anakin is named Emperor of the Grand Republic, but because of his ruthless ambitions, and brutal murders at the Jedi Temple, he loses the love of Senator Padme Amidala. The story continues as an at-his-wit's-end, Anakin, tries in vain to win Padme's heart again.

Her slender fingers raked through the sand, catching a handful in her palm. She watched as the dark brown grains slipped through her closed fist, like time, as she laid beside a sparkling blue ocean where the waves battered her listless body, the sun painted her flesh gold, and streaked the coils of her dark hair at the nape of her neck, and along her face, bright yellow.

The sound of laughter rang out. She stirred, opening her closed eyes. Two plump happy looking four year-olds sank into the sand behind her, pulling and tugging at her arms.

"Play with us mommy," the girl yelled.

A wave crashed over them. And just behind, the little girl's father instantly stood, his eyes checking to see if they were alright.

They were.

He sat down again, the heels of his booted feet digging into the sand as he motioned the child to distance herself from the rising tide.

"Come, Leia," he said. The girl ran toward him, chubby legs running as fast as they would carry her, smiling, arms wide. He smiled.

Suddenly, a handful of sand crashed into the back of his head. He turned, grabbing the boy Luke, by the arms, and slung him over his shoulder playfully.

"How come you never play with mommy?" Luke asked, giggling.

Children had a way of saying things that were never to be said aloud. Anakin knew his wife Padme heard. Still she did not move, lost in her thoughts.

"Come... Padme," Anakin called.

He stood again, suddenly ready to leave. He towered over the two children, who clamoured to hang from his legs. A gleam of sweat trickled down the center of his chest to his abdomen. He pulled the towel he carried from around his neck and wiped it away.

"Padme!" he called again. She heard him. He knew she heard him.

Anakin watched her. Expensive jewelry adorning her neck, brass bangles on her arms. Beautiful and slender, her hips rising from the curve of her waist like a small bell. The sheer empire style covering she wore over her two piece suit clung to her like a second skin, seaweed from the tide wrapped around her legs and feet .

His eyes were forever drawn to his Padme. She could enter a room and he would lose focus, his mind roaming wherever she went, his spirit walking in the echoes of her footprints, wishing he could hold her hand and go wherever she were going... even if only, to another room.

"Move her," Anakin ordered, signaling a nearby storm trooper, dressed in standard white armour with a cooling system inside. So sad to be him, a storm trooper, Padme thought. So sad to stand knee deep in so much beauty, never to taste the salty sea air. Her husband was a cruel man. Cruel to everyone...including her.

The storm trooper grabbed Padme by the arm and pulled her to her feet. Another pulled seaweed from her ankles as though she were a crystal doll to be handled and treated with uptmost care.

Her head rose and Anakin turned. He seldom met her eyes, he couldn't bear to see the emptiness, desperation and hatred he saw within them. Padme gave him a resentful look as she fingered the jewelry around her neck.

Jewelry she had fastened about her, believing it to be a gift. Something to cover the permanent scars left on her neck from where her husband's hands nearly crushed her fragile bones a little more than four years ago. A gift, that wasn't a gift at all... but something that came with a heavy price. An electrical signal embedded in some of the stones prevented her from leaving the compound. From moving beyond the garden.

Anakin hadn't meant to hurt her. He didn't want her to leave. Without the necklace she would go and never return. She would devastate their children, sacrificing their happiness for her own. It wasn' that she didn't love them, it was the fact that she hated him just that much. Enough to leave her own children behind. But somehow he sensed she couldn't. Thinking him a murderer of children. Which in reality, is exactly what he was, he thought, the blood in his veins running cold.

He slowed, allowing her to walk by, nose in the air. So bitter... so very bitter, he thought. And there was nothing he could do. Nothing he could do to change what was already done. What did she want from him? Did she want him to be the one who died at the bank of the lava river on Mustafar?

Luke and Leia bustled past him and raced to their mother, each taking a hand. Luke whined then tugged the side of her gown. She pulled him from the ground to rest on her hip, while Leia dawdled behind, reaching, longing to be held too.

Leia wasn't the only one who wanted to be held. Anakin raced ahead and scooped the girl into his arms. She calmed, eyes on the brink of tears. He turned to Padme and saw her shoulders stiffen as he heared.

His lips tightened. "I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Good," came the short reply. Murderer...

His shoulders fell. "Don't fall asleep. I'll be visiting your bedroom tonight."

"Whatever your wish," she coldly replied. "Emperor."

This was typical of how love making was initiated. He'd warn her some hours ahead to mentally prepare herself for his visit. He would arrive, she'd wear cold cream on her face, or some other appallingly disgusting mixture. He would order her to remove it and she would come back to bed, fresh as an ocean breeze. He would hold her, kiss her, love her...

While Padme pretended she was dead. At least until it was over. Then Anakin would back out of her room unable to tear his eyes away from the soft image of her body sprawled beneath the luminous stream of moonlight shining through her window. But alas, duty called. There were systems to conquer. He couldn't linger there forever...longing to possess a heart he would never have again.

Anakin walked quietly into Padme's room. She sat on the edge of the bed, curtains from the canopy drawn. He stared through the sheer fabric at her exposed back. 'Good. There would be none of that awful tussling,' he thought.

He pulled his black leather glove from his hand and casually tossed it aside. Then peeled out of his clothes. She turned her head ever slightly, to look over her shoulder, a sigh escaping her lips. He walked around, drawing the curtains wide enough to allow him to pass through, his knees sinking into the cushions of the bed. He didn't look at her, nor she at him. Instead, he pressed a hand to her shoulder and pushed her back, clamoring over her stiffened body awkwardly. He laid there a moment, then leaned to kiss her. But Padme turned her head away. He cupped her chin, turning her face back to him, then settled his lips over hers. She closed her eyes, and drifted...somewhere else til it was over.

Soon he was dressed and on his way to systems unknown. 'Typical. So typical,' she thought.

Padme laid in bed, her fingers toying with the broken blue shell she found on the beach. She moved the curtain from the canopy back, looking around to ensure he was gone. She left the soft cushion of the bed then drew her robe from a nearby chair and covered herself, waiting for the noisy children to sneak to her bedroom, as they always did when he was out of the house.