There are some things Anakin should have considered and maybe The Fates would have been kinder.

It all started off pretty well in AOTC. He was reunited with the object of his obsession (I'm sorry, I meant devotion; not that I have qualm about the former ), one Senator Padme Amidala. He was charming and deferential but there was an underlying current of intensity to it all. It could have be taken as passion or menace, it's a little hard to tell. And honestly, who could possibly care to make the distinction? Padme reacted the way I think most women would when confronted with such adoration. It was flattering and a definite ego boost. Even so, she held him at arms length for a time. Until the Lake Retreat Negotiations (as I like to call it). She issues the edict that feelings are forefeit in the face of duty and rebuffs him. Until the nightmare. His screaming was the sign that he was vulnerable and she wanted to protect him. Then they went to Tattoine and he confessed his act of ethnic cleansing on the Tusken Raiders as retribution for the death of Shmi. He wasn't sorry and he didn't need to be. He was wounded and that was what worked. ("Oh Ani, you had me at, "I killed them all!"). It effectually sealed the deal. She was his and it was all good. Everything should have been okay, but arcs being arcs the decline had to set in, I guess. (I'm still wishing they could have had a happy ending).

Anyway, I don't know what happened to him during the Clone Wars, but it certainly affected his ability to garner sympathy and engender constancy of accord with his wife. It all seemed to begin to unravel at 500 Republica during ROTS. Padme was still worried about him. She knew he was tortured and she was on his side (Know Thy Husband ). She asked him about what was happening. He looked at her. Then he lied. WTF? What the hell was that? But, Padme took it in stride. He left for Mustafar. Obi shows up at the crib and does a tell all, that would have pulled epic ratings if aired on HoloNet. And still, Padme had Ani's back. She went to Mustafar to talk to him, run off with him, hide him from the Jedi, whatever it took. Because if he did what Obi said, there must have been an explanation. And regardless of what it was, he was her Ani.

Now, I am the last person to defend what she did once he pretty much confessed, I've covered why in another post. In this instance, my problem is with Anakin and here's what I wish a tiny little Force sprite had whispered in his ear:

"Look, I know how it looked when Obi came off Padme's ship. But dude, come on. You've been kinda' tweaked lately and Force or no Force, today isn't going down as one of your most lucid. Maybe we just need to take a moment and consider that with the wild emotional levels everyone is experiencing, whatever you think you know, is most likely working on a slant.

Obi is a whole other issue, but not Padme. Dude, she came all the way out to this crap lava pit to talk to you. Obviously she knows what you told her before was a lie. And she's still here. There isn't anything you can't tell her and you know it. And the whole thing at the Temple... she'll understand. Remember the Tuskens? And she still married you. Do not give in to paranoia. She is not your enemy. Hell, you took it this far because you believed it was the only way to save her. Sure, she's inculcated with that whole political democracy dogma thing and she can be a little preachy sometimes, but you know you love her. And you know she isn't into Obi. She's got you. And you were the mack daddy badass of the Jedi. Surely you can work the whole, wicked hard core, crazy-sexy- cool Sith thing to your advantage. So do it already & stop wasting time.

Besides, you know life without her would be empty and cold and you don't want that. She wants you to run away with her. She'll go anywhere and hide any length of time as long as you go with her. Do it. Trust her. For once in your bloody miserable existence, just let go and trust her."

Oh if it were so, maybe he wouldn't have gone all weird and tried to force-choke the life out of her.

Anakin should have realized that Padme responded to his being wounded and tortured like Pavlov's pooch. She didn't expect him to be perfect and sometimes, not even moral. She had the capability to afford him all kinds of leeway. All he needed to do was show himself to be vulnerable and in need of her help, her love and her sanctity. She was willing to be salve to his injured self. His error was in assuming a position that made him more powerful than anyone. It nullified his vulnerablity factor and hence his necessity for the primary role she'd filled. Once negated, the end point was set. She would reject him and his plan outright. She was a former Queen, a current Senator and older than him and their relationship had never been on equal footing. He should have known that she would not acquiesce or afford him the sort of deference he was hoping for.