To my followers: you will notice that this chapter and the next one have been revised. My hope is that they are better than the previous version and more fun to read.

Coruscant: 17:32: En Route to 500 Republica

Almost there, almost there...

Anakin's mind continuously screamed those two words as he piloted through the massive traffic of rush hour. He must have broken about twelve piloting and traffic regulations by now, but he didn't care. The only thing in this entire universe which was captivating his attention was his beloved wife, and the joy within him that kept growing as he came closer to seeing her.

His time at Bothuwai had been particularly draining. His crash in space coupled with losing Artoo had left him exhausted and in need of some down time. No better place to do so then at home. So, after the briefing at the temple he made up an excuse that he needed some real food after all that time living off bland rations, and he slipped out without a hitch.

Anakin chuckled at how simple it seemed to throw anyone off his trail. No one but those closest to him would suspect that he was doing anything outside of the order, everyone else deterred easily.

But there was always the nagging at his consciousness that was triggered with every lie he fed to the people that trusted him. The young Jedi wished more than anything that he could tell everyone in the universe he was happily married, and wouldn't ever trade his beloved for anything. Maybe when the was was over, he might actually get to.

The platform of his and Padmé's apartment was finally in his sights, and Skywalker broke another law just to get to it. At last he landed, and before the glass cover of the Temple shuttle had lifted all the way he leaped out and onto the stone floor of the verandah.

Padmé was nowhere in sight, but Anakin could sense her in the sitting room. Behind him Artoo's legs continuously made a whir sound as the little droid followed him in. But he suddenly stopped, and Anakin turned to see it was because Artoo had spotted 3P0.

In his haste to see Padmé Anakin forgot about the peaky droid. He didn't mind him so much when he meant well, but he just didn't feel like having his night interrupted by the far too troubling droid. Then Artoo nudged his leg.

"I can keep him occupied if you want."

Skywalker grinned gratefully, even though Artoo had no way of responding to it. He wasn't sure how Artoo knew that he didn't want 3P0 intruding on them, but whatever it was Anakin was grateful for it.

"Thank's pal. I appreciate it."

"No problem." Then he rolled away.

A few seconds later Anakin heard 3P0 shouting how excited he was to see Artoo.

Perhaps later I should think about adjusting his voice box.

With the droids safely occupied in another area of the house Skywalker moved toward his beloved.

Finally he saw her. The balcony of the living room was open, and resting her arms on the railing was his beloved Padmé. Forgetting everything else around him at that moment he walked with the silence of a ghost till he stood within four feet of her. She did not turn, and was completely unaware of his presence. Grinning quite proudly of himself he just about closed the distance between them, and then stood next to her mimicking her pose on the railing.

The Jedi wasn't sure how long it took for her to figure out that he was there, but when she finally did he had to move with incredible reflex to make sure his wife didn't fall off the railing. Now nestled in his arms, Padmé was clinging to him with a level of animosity and possession he hadn't seen in her before.

After holding her for a few moments Anakin heard his wife sobbing gently against his robes. "Hey," He whispered soothingly. "It's alright, I'm here."

"Oh Anakin! I was so worried." She pulled away slightly to look at him. "I didn't hear from you, and it's been months. I got so scared!"

He shushed her gently and kissed her temple. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't contact you because the first half of the mission was secret, and then after that things kinda went a little haywire."

Padmé's face flushed. "Haywire?" She said horrified. "What happened? Where you hurt?"

"Don't worry it was nothing serious. Just a couple of scrapes." Placing his hand on her cheek he rubbed soothing circles on her cheek bone. "You shouldn't worry about me being hurt. You know I'd never leave you."

Anakin was a little surprised when tears welled up in her eyes because of his statement. In the past when he had made similar comments he'd seen her maybe get a little sad, but never to the point of tears. She was too strong willed to even allow herself to cry if she did develop potential tears.

After a few moments Padmé had managed to control her tears, but he could still feel she was swelling with emotion. "I know you would never leave me intentionally."

The husband chuckled. "Wether it be intentional, or not intentional you're stuck with me forever." I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, or later."

His wife smirked a bright smile. "I think I'd be very happy with that arrangement."

When she leaned forward Anakin did the rest and sealed the gap between them, pressing their lips together for a sweet reunion kiss.

A bantha steak, which the Jedi had thankfully cooked for his wife, accompanied by a fizzy drink later Padmé was just finishing her tale of what had occurred whilst he was away.

"A Sith holocron?" Anakin asked.

"That's what the source said." Padmé replied. "Obi-Wan agreed to go with Bail to retrieve it from Zigoola. But once they met up with his contact, Alinta, things went south and they were attacked by pirates. Alinta was killed, and when Bail and Obi-Wan finally made it to Zigoola they crash landed. Obi-Wan really struggled while they were there with the place having deep roots in thr Darkside, or something of that description. He recovered once they finally reached the temple the holocron was located at and destroyed it, and Master Yoda sent me and a team of clones to retrieve them."

"He sent you? Padmé, that was dangerous! You were in the middle of Wild Space."

"I said I was sent with a team of clones Anakin. I wasn't as in danger as you perceive I was."

"That still does not make me comfortable with the idea of you being sent out there like that. And why did you not contact me?"

"Because I had not heard from you in several weeks." Her voice began to take a heated tenor. "For all I knew you could have been in the middle of a space battle running for your life. I didn't know where you were or what was happening to you so I thought it best to not contact you just so I wouldn't disturb you."

"I would have gotten back to you had you contacted and I had not picked up." He said.

"Argh!" Her agitation flared. "You misunderstand me! I did not want to contact you for fear that I would worry you more when you probably were worrying about so many other things. The last thing I want is for me to be the cause of you either being seriously hurt or killed!"

The Jedi Knight found himself stumped over his wife's words. Her outburst was not like her. Normally, she was collected and calm with these sorts of conversations. It wasn't as though they hadn't had arguments before, but even in their disagreements he never could recall her actually shouting and snapping at him.

She seemed to realize that her outburst had shocked him, and he sensed her alarm with herself.

"I'm sorry." She said. This time her voice was soft and full of remorse. "I don't know what came over me."

Anakin grasped her hand from under the table and gently rubbed her knuckles. "I know. And I appreciate you thinking of me. But Padmé, you don't have to worry about me. Everything else comes second to you." With his other palm he cradled her hand. "All I'm trying to say with this is I would appreciate it if you would let me know you're okay when you are in situations like that. If something happened to you and I didn't know about it I couldn't live with myself. I'm sorry that it didn't come across that way."

His wife's behavior became even more strange when tears gathered up in her eyes.

What is up with her? And I know this isn't just stress, she's too steadfast and strong to succumb to stress.

Padmé frantically wiped away her unusual onset of tears frantically whilst her husband attempted to figure out what could be causing her strange behavior.

"Ok." She said. "I promise, from now on I will let you know where I am if I'm ever out anywhere like Wild Space."

Setting aside his pondering he planted a brief kiss near the corner of her lip. "I appreciate that." Another smooch. "Am I forgiven?"

Sweetly smiling at him, he accepted his own quick kiss from her. "Always my darling. Always."

Later in the evening whilst they both settled down for sleep, Anakin continued to think of what would have caused the behavior he witnessed from his wife today. He had already debunked stress, perhaps it was something going on in the senate; she may even have just not been getting much sleep. Tiredness had the tendency to make either of them irritable in the past. But none of those seemed like the culprit.

The young Jedi just had a feeling that something other than what he had suggested was responsible. It wasn't anything he could sense directly, but it was something more elusive. Something that he wouldn't have thought of. Whatever it was he was determined to figure it out, and when he did he'd get it out of her way.

Thank you for reading and God Bless!