She needed to know how long this would go on. How long would she suffer knowing that she would never see her family or friends again? How long would she be separated from everything dear to her? How long would she be forced to endure her suffering? How long would she languish in this prison before fading away? How long before Vader took her life? Would it happen soon or later? Would she be here days? Months? Years?
Her thoughts spun with troubling visions of potential outcomes. Deep inside, she longed for a peaceful end in her sleep, even though she knew it was unrealistic. She wouldn't pass away as an elderly woman, dying of natural causes after a long life fully lived.
Her life would be cut short, struck down in her prime. There was nothing natural about it. She wondered if Vader would prefer a more prolonged approach or if he would be swift in his actions. Would he use his hands or his lightsaber? Maybe he would just use the Force.
She shuddered at the thought, but she clung to that sliver of hope. Perhaps, just maybe, he would kill her in her sleep… but only after he had had his way with her.
She dismissed the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. It was partly due to its unpleasantness, but also because she had witnessed Vader's reaction to the man at the club, which made her realize that that didn't seem to be his typical approach.
He wasn't against murder, but rape drew a line.
It was a relief, assuming she was correct.
She attempted to avoid thinking further about it. "You need to understand," Padmé said, turning back to him with a fresh determination, fueled by the desire to truly live. "You should know that I won't say a word."
He shrugged. "We will see."
Tears welled in her eyes, yet she held them back. "Are you really prepared to wait weeks, months, or even years to find out?" she asked, throwing her hands up in frustration, hoping he would recognize how absurd that seemed.
"Believe me, Senator," Vader said with irritation, "if you prefer a briefer stay, I'd be glad to accommodate you."
Padmé chuckled at him, sensing his frustration but aware he was powerless to change it.
"Gladly?" Padmé chuckled mockingly. "That's a new emotion for you."
"Senator." Vader growled, issuing a stark warning. She was testing his patience, toying with his nerves, and provoking Vader rarely led to anything positive.
She didn't care. If she had to suffer, he would too. She had told him she could torment him just as much as he could, and even though she knew that wasn't true, she was determined to try her hardest.
If she could provoke him sufficiently, perhaps his emotions would surge, leading him to lash out at her as he had with Rush. She hoped he would. She wished there were a way to provoke him into skipping the strategic foreplay and going straight to killing her, just as he had done with Palpatine's plans.
It would rescue her from the dreadful future that awaited her.
She concentrated on his annoyance, turning his disinterest in her presence to her advantage. "If you'd accommodate me," she said deliberately, twisting his words even though she realized that wasn't truly his intent. " Then perhaps we can reach an agreement. Neither of us wants this. You can set me free."
Vader seemed furious, but his amusement overshadowed that anger. "Try again."
Once more, Padmé's irritation overwhelmed her. "You need to understand there's no point!" she shouted. "We'll just waste all this time and then, what?"
"And then you die."
He expressed it so simply, as if the words lacked any real meaning.
"Right," she laughed, feeling a wave of madness wash over her. Turning back to him, she stared up into the overwhelming darkness. "You'll kill me just like you did Rush?"
"Who?" Vader inquired, prompting a deeper frown from Padmé. "Rush Clovis," Padmé shouted in frustration. She couldn't believe that Vader had forgotten the man. Had he truly forgotten all his victims? "The man you murdered yesterday."
Vader was once more silent, offering no reply.
Padmé sensed that Vader was not treating their conversation with the seriousness it deserved. She could feel his satisfaction in unsettling her, which only added to her agitation.
Padmé laughed sharply, her anger visibly spilling over. He was getting to her, yet she felt powerless to stop him. All she could do was respond, needing to let out the emotions she had kept bottled up. "Is life truly so insignificant to you that you can forget about a life you took just yesterday?"
With his arms crossed, Vader turned to the furious senator next to him, and for a fleeting moment, Padmé thought she caught a glimpse of his teeth. Was he smiling?
As if she had thought it allowed, Vader withdrew, twisting his form to blend deeper into the shadows.
"Senator, I can't recall the lives I ended today," he said, his voice so innocent that Padmé suspected he was mocking her. "I had to think very hard in my master's office just to remember you."
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