The Confrontation

Author's note: This story is dedicated to TotallyTropical. Instead of sending a word for my challenge in my other story (Who is the Phantom Menace, anyway?), she challenged me to write this scene, but as a parody. Well, I have to admit, it was rather hard to make this even a tiny bit funny, but I accepted the challenge, and I hope I did not fail.

It's been rather long, but I finally managed to write this story. I feel like my mental capacities for humour are not quite back in shape yet, but I think this turned out pretty passable, anyway – I hope.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, and neither do I own Heidi Klum's boobs (which are really called Hans and Franz, by the way) – and why would I want to, I have my own pair, after all, and I have to say that I am rather attached to them, quite literally attached to them, in fact.

oOo

"Oh no, not that. As if things aren't bad enough already," Obi-Wan sighed wearily. He crouched down lower in the seat of his star fighter, trying to further hide his already hood-concealed face. He knew it was extremely dangerous to stay stationary for too long because he risked being discovered, but this was something he had to do.

Once again, he looked over to the open, luxurious balcony of the penthouse of 500 Republica. Padmé was still not in sight, but even though he had tightly shielded his Force signature to hide from the Sith Lord, he could still sense two tiny but brilliant presences inside the bedroom of the Senator's quarters. Cautiously, he stretched out with a tiny tendril of the Force to check if Padmé and her children were all right, and immediately the two tiny, bright souls stretched out in innocent curiosity to greet him. He quickly withdrew, so as not to give away his or the children's presence to Darth Sidious, although he felt a twinge of regret at having to push the two bright presences away.

Their welcome was so full of innocence and warmth that Obi-Wan almost smiled – almost, if the children's presences hadn't reminded him so painfully of Anakin. To anyone who could feel the Force and who was to a certain extent familiar with Anakin's Force presence, the parentage of these children was glaringly obvious. Their Force signatures blazed like the twin suns of Tatooine, just like Anakin's did – and just like Anakin's love for the Senator did in a few unguarded moments. Obi-Wan was neither blind, nor deaf, nor dumb, and even if he had been, it would have been hard to not notice Anakin's long absences, the dreamy look that came into his eyes whenever they fell on Padmé or the long, whispered comm calls whenever they were away on some mission. Still, Obi-Wan had deliberately turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to what Anakin had been doing, because on the one hand, he still hoped that Anakin would one day voluntarily come to talk to him and on the other hand, because Anakin was so happy when he only did as much as think of Padmé, and there was so little happiness to be found in a war.

In the light of the most recent events, though, Obi-Wan heavily doubted that had been the right decision. Anakin's happiness had cost thousands of Jedi their lives. Before the shock and grief of this day's events could overwhelm Obi-Wan, he quickly pushed the memory away. Taking one step at a time, his thoughts returned to what he had to do next. He had to get to Padmé, and that meant talking to the most annoying droid in the whole galaxy.

Obi-Wan sighed once again. No matter how many droids he had already disassembled, this was one he absolutely felt incapable to face. Especially since he could not get rid of it in the usual manner best suited for annoying droids – with his lightsaber. The hood that hid his face also concealed the expression of distaste that crossed it as Obi-Wan steered his star fighter towards the edge of Senator Amidala's balcony. He hadn't even opened the cockpit yet, and that annoying golden droid was already approaching him in its characteristic stiff, tiny steps, bustling excitedly and babbling all kinds of nonsense.

"Master Kenobi, oh my, what shall I do?" C-3PO fussed and fretted. "I am so glad to see you, but I fear that you are an enemy of the Republic now. Oh what do I do, what do I do? A real enemy of the Republic! And with My Lady all upset already. I am excited beyond repair! But I do wish that all enemies of the Republic were as civilised and as polite as you are, Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan brushed off the bustling droid with the words: "I fear the Republic is dead."

"Oh my goodness, the Republic is dead? My Lady will be most displeased. She is very partial to this whole concept of elections, votes and bureaucracy. I am not quite sure if My Lady should receive such upsetting news. She is struck by the most peculiar illness, and she should not be burdened with any kind of distress. My Lady suffers from very odd symptoms. She has the strangest appetites and sends me out for roasted rancor with chocolate syrup in the middle of the night. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to find roasted rancor around here! Small wonder she regularly feels sick the next morning. And with her unhealthy diet, it was to be expected that My Lady put on some weight, and by now it shows despite her attempts to conceal it with her voluminous robes. But I fear I am being indiscreet. It is not my place to judge My Lady's build. I am just a droid, after all, and Master Skywalker seems to be quite taken with My Lady's round, protruding belly, the way he gently rubs it all the time. He has been here quite often recently –"

"C-3PO?" Padmé's voice could faintly be heard from the next room. "Is there someone with you, or are you just malfunctioning and talking to the trash compactor again?"

"No, My Lady, you have a visitor," the droid announced.

"Well, who is it, then, and why didn't you tell me that we had company?" Padmé sounded distinctly annoyed at the protocol droid. The protocol it had come with was outdated by now, and C-3PO definitely needed an update if he wanted to remain the droid of any self-respecting and successful politician. Padmé had kept it so far because it had been a gift from Anakin, but the way that droid had been behaving lately, she had to reboot its system and call the droid maintenance and repair droid with increasing frequency.

"It's Master Kenobi, My Lady," C-3PO answered.

Padmé immediately forgot her annoyance with the nasal voice and the prissy manner of the droid and waddled over into the living room with the attached balcony. She would have much preferred a seductive swaying of her hips, but this late in her pregnancy, she could only manage a mildly wriggly waddle. Despite her marriage to Anakin, Padmé had never let go of the infatuation for Obi-Wan she shared with most of her handmaidens.

"Obi-Wan!" she exclaimed in relief as she entered the living room.

She walked over to the Jedi as fast as she could without losing her balance and caught him in an embrace. To Obi-Wan, this hug was both unexpected and not exactly welcome, but although his tense posture didn't relax even a tiny bit, Padmé didn't let go until Obi-Wan gently peeled her hands off him.

"I was so worried," Padmé said, her voice full of emotion. "Anakin told me you were sent after General Grievous, and then the Jedi Temple was burning and the Jedi were declared traitors. I am so glad you are still alive!"

Padmé was truly relieved to find out that Obi-Wan was still alive, but as she looked at him, she couldn't help but think that Obi-Wan seemed less elated about his continued existence. He seemed distracted, and his usually nearly unflappable calm seemed to be hard fought for.

"What's the matter with you? Are you all right?" Padmé asked worriedly, daring to place a hand on Obi-Wan's tense shoulder. To both her delight and worry, Obi-Wan didn't withdraw politely, as he usually did whenever someone came too close for his liking.

For a moment, the Jedi seemed far away, his eyes still focused on a security recording that had stopped playing long ago. Padmé had never seen his eyes look so empty, not even after Qui-Gon's death. For one short instant, she looked behind the Jedi composure and saw a man who was desperately trying to hold on to the pieces of something that had been shattered. Padmé could almost watch how Obi-Wan managed to rebuild some fragile semblance of normalcy from the shards that might hold – for the time being. She wondered what might have managed to break something inside Obi-Wan when he had always seemed as indestructible as a cockroach, but then she realized that General Grievous must have cracked or even broken one or possibly even several of Obi-Wan's ribs. Padmé couldn't think of any other reason he might look so pale and distressed. Immediately, she regretted the tight hug she had given him before. No wonder if he was tense in her embrace when she was putting strain on his injury.

Padmé repeated her questions once Obi-Wan seemed to be mentally present again.

"Are you really all right?" she inquired, once again approaching Obi-Wan. She planned to hug him again, so that she could check for broken ribs, but this time, the Jedi stepped back out of her reach.

Obi-Wan did not feel comfortable being questioned like that, especially when he could not answer that question truthfully. Nothing was all right, but he couldn't tell Padmé yet. He didn't have the courage to do this to her, though he knew that he would have to find that courage soon. For the moment, though, he tried to quickly change the subject.

"Yes, I'm fine," he hastily brushed Padmé's concern off. Quickly, he changed the subject in a manner that was unusually clumsy and injudicious for the ever suave negotiator.

"How are the twins?" he asked with a glance at Padmé's visibly protruding belly.

Obi-Wan knew his distraction had worked when Padmé beamed at him.

"You noticed?" she asked -Wan wondered how he could have not noticed. She looked downwards. "They have rounded out nicely, haven't they? And they've grown quite heavy, too."

Obi-Wan was a bit puzzled by that answer, but he supposed that carrying a medicine ball of increasing size attached to your midriff for about nine months might get heavy eventually, and its roundness was so obvious it could hardly be denied.

"Do you want to touch them?" Padmé asked, blushing slightly.

"I… I… I don't think that would be appropriate," Obi-Wan stammered.

"Oh, don't be so respectable all the time. Of course you may touch them if I tell you so," Padmé replied.

Padmé wore a bright smile as Obi-Wan slowly approached her, looking rather unsure and hesitant. She adjusted the neckline of her gown to offer the best possible view of the "twins". Even if she felt like a fat cow because of her big belly, as compensation and to her great pleasure, her "twins" had gained some weight. She was a bit surprised that Obi-Wan knew how Anakin liked to call them – her husband referred to them as her "twins", and he had even named them Hans and Franz – but she was not about to complain, now that she was finally making some headway in getting to know Obi-Wan on a more… intimate level, something she had been trying to do for the last 13 years, ever since he and his Master ad dropped from a balcony in Theed to rescue –well, technically to rescue Hanké, who had posed as the Queen that day, but she refused to let herself be discouraged by such trivialities.

She was quite disappointed when Obi-Wan, very carefully and very gently, placed one warm hand quite a bit lower than she had imagined, right where her belly stuck out the furthest. What was that? Had he lost courage at the last moment? Had he not meant her "twins" at all? Or was it possible that…

Slowly, it dawned on Padmé that they had not been talking about the same twins at all. Now, she was terribly glad that she hadn't made any more openly suggestive remarks.

She could immediately see a difference in Obi-Wan, though. His eyes didn't look quite as empty, and he looked a tiny bit less troubled for a second. The child – or rather, if she interpreted Obi-Wan's words correctly – the children started kicking and squirming as soon as the Jedi Master's hand touched her. Padmé was elated that she would have two children instead of just one, and she immediately decided that their names should be Hans and Fran if they were both boys.

For a few seconds, they stayed that way, and Padmé was quite sure that Obi-Wan was introducing himself to her children, and she got the strangest feeling that her children were introducing themselves and their mother to Obi-Wan. She felt a bit miffed at that because she thought that as a mother, she should be the one doing the introducing, but before she could complain, Obi-Wan removed his hand and stepped back. The almost-smile was wiped from his face, the children calmed down and stopped kicking, and the glow Padmé had imagined enveloping her belly vanished, so that she was not quite sure if it had truly been there.

Obi-Wan had been fascinated by the two tiny but nonetheless brightly shining Force presences that belonged to Padmé's children. For one instant, he just lived in the moment and marvelled at the two unborn children kicking inside their mother's belly. The twins had opened the intimate bond they shared to include him, and Obi-Wan felt honoured by their trust. But the children's bright lights also reminded him of their father, of Anakin as he had been back when Qui-Gon had first brought him to Coruscant – and even then, Anakin had already been shadow as well as light. Obi-Wan had watched the shadows grow deeper and darker during the last few years, but he had mostly thought the war had been responsible for Anakin's troubled emotions. Obi-Wan had always hoped that Anakin would find his own way, and he had trusted Anakin to come to him if he had problems with it. But instead, Anakin had turned to the Chancellor – with disastrous results.

Obi-Wan shuddered as he remembered the scorch marks on the floors and walls of the Temple, the vicious burns that defiled the bodies of Jedi – of younglings, sometimes not very much older than Anakin's own children. Horror rose up inside Obi-Wan like bile as the images of slaughtered Jedi – younglings, Padawans and Knights alike – came rushing back. Obi-Wan's iron control began to unravel. But he refused to give in to the grief and shock. The Galaxy was falling apart, so he mustn't.

He had to find Anakin, because hope whispered to him that maybe not everything was too late.

But horror screamed at him that it was already far too late for everything.

Still, the tiny whisper of hope was not drowned out by the screams of horror, not yet, and as long as it was still there, he would listen to it. He had to find Anakin. And Padmé was probably the only one who had any idea where he might be. Well, maybe aside from Darth Sidious, but Obi-Wan could hardly just walk up to him and demand to be told the whereabouts of his former Padawan, now the most recent apprentice of Darth Sidious. If Anakin wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Sith Lord's former apprentices, he would probably end up severely truncated some time in the none too far off future, anyway.

Obi-Wan gathered his resolve. No matter how reluctant he was to cause Padmé any distress, he had to find Anakin.

And he had to hurry. Every second he spent here, in plain view, he endangered not only himself but also Padmé and her children. Just hours before, he had been a widely recognized and well-known so-called "hero" of the war, now he was considered a dangerous traitor, but a just as widely recognized traitor. Anyone who watched the holonet news regularly could identify him, and that meant he could not be seen. He had to find the courage to act, to finally tell Padmé about the real reason for his not exactly social call.

With one last deep breath, he shoved all his troubled emotions behind the thick wall of his Jedi training, hoping they would stay there long enough for the difficult conversation ahead.

"I have to find Anakin," he stated, a bit shocked by how cold and unfeeling he sounded.

Padmé could not believe what she heard. She had never considered Obi-Wan cold-hearted, no matter how much Anakin complained about his Master's seeming lack of emotions. But the way he had said that – rather like some kind of investigator than the caring mentor she had always imagined him to be. Obi-Wan had apparently misplaced a person he allegedly cared for, but he didn't show that he was even a tiny bit worried. When Obi-Wan had first arrived, Padmé had thought that he was distracted, sad. Well, obviously, she had been wrong. Anakin was more upset when he couldn't find his favourite pair of underpants after both his and her clothes had somehow become scattered all over the apartment.

"Well, as you can see, he isn't here. And he isn't hiding inside my closet, either, as he usually does when I receive unexpected visitors while he is with me," she snapped, turning away from Obi-Wan and pretending to be busy.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Obi-Wan asked, following her through the room.

"Yesterday," Padmé's short answer clearly showed that she didn't want to talk to Obi-Wan any more.

"Do you know where he is now?" Obi-Wan didn't give up – couldn't give up.

"No," Padmé answered frostily.

"Padmé, I need your help," Obi-Wan implored her. "He is in great danger." He had no idea where Anakin could be right now, which in itself was an unfamiliar sensation. The bond they had shared for more than thirteen years had become shrouded in darkness. He only hoped that his guess was right and that Anakin had not changed so much that he did no longer trust Padmé.

"From the Sith?" Padmé asked, immediately worried for her husband. On the one hand, he had been so secretive and closed off when he had come to her just a few hours ago. Maybe the Sith were after him? He was supposed to be the Chosen One, after all. Although Padmé had never really understood all this Chosen One hype, she was pretty sure that that made Anakin special and important, which meant that he would be a priority target for the evil guys. She hoped that he was not in danger.

On the other hand, she had become pretty annoyed with the Jedi's endless use of the Sith as an explanation for everything that went wrong. The Sith were to blame for everything: the Sith had created General Grievous, the Sith were responsible for many losses in the war, the Sith had infiltrated the Senate, the Sith had died Master Windu's lightsaber such a ghastly purple and stolen Anakin's favourite pair of underpants when it had been scattered somewhere in her apartment. She was absolutely sick of hearing about the Sith this and the Sith that when no one had ever seen this Sithly Evil Overlord.

She turned around and glared at Obi-Wan.

"From himself. Padmé, Anakin has turned to the Dark Side," Obi-Wan fought to say the most difficult words in his entire life. Saying out loud what he had seen gave it a terrible finality.

"You're wrong," Padmé immediately protested. "How could you even say that?"

This time, Obi-Wan was the one to turn away from Padmé so that she could not see the pain on his face. If only it were a lie! Obi-Wan would have been the last person to believe Anakin capable of such atrocities, but he had seen the proof with his own eyes. Not only had he seen the slaughtered bodies of Jedi – both adults and children – strewn across the Temple floor, he had actually seen Anakin cruelly massacre younglings who had asked him for help and kneel to Palpatine – no, to Darth Sidious afterwards.

"I have seen a security hologram of him killing younglings," he said, the pain that Padmé could not see on his face clearly audible in his strained voice. It seemed Padmé was intent on making this as hard as possible for him.

"Not Anakin! He couldn't," Padmé vehemently protested. "I mean, okay, so you never lied to me, or probably anyone else for that matter, granted. But why should I believe you? Anakin has always been such a kind man, always selflessly helping others. He could never hurt anyone, except for this one time when he massacred all the Sand People. And if he might be a bit emotionally unstable, well, that does not make him a monster and mass murderer. At least not most of the time. And just because he committed a mass murder once does not mean that he is prone to massacres. Also, there is a huge difference between slaughtering the men, women and children of a tribe of Sand People and slaughtering the men, women and children in the Jedi Temple. They didn't kill his mother, after all. Okay, so most of the Sand People he killed that day also didn't kill is mother, but still. And I am pretty sure that not even Anakin is foolish and unthinking enough to fall for obviously false promises of unlimited power to save me from death in exchange for the countless lives of his fellow Jedi."

Padmé's rather longwinded rant was greeted by an absolutely uncomprehending gaze from Obi-Wan. What was all that about Anakin killing a whole tribe of Sand People? Anakin had committed such a heinous deed, and Padmé had known about it? And still, nothing had ever been done to address the consequences of such a crime? Obi-Wan had always considered Padmé a responsible and strong-willed young woman who fought for equal rights for everyone and who defended those who could not defend themselves. But apparently, her principles were not applicable when it came to Anakin.

Still, he had to make her understand what had happened. He couldn't let her go to Anakin assuming that he was still the same temperamental yet caring (or rather, in her case, loving) man as before. Anakin's temper had always been volatile, and had undoubtedly become all the more so since his turn to the Dark Side. Had not Master Yoda said that "the Dark Side, to great anger and suffering it leads"? Or was it that "anger leads to suffering, and suffering, to the Dark Side it leads"? Well, the exact order of the words was probably inconsequential, since Obi-Wan was pretty sure that Yoda had said that sentence in all its possible – and even a few impossible – word orders. Still, Obi-Wan had ample personal experience when it came to the disposition of Dark Siders concerning other people's health, and usually they were not exactly the kind of person you would trust with your well-being. Obi-Wan's own had been severely endangered by the Dark Siders he had met so far.

"He was deceived by a lie, we all were," Obi-Wan told her. He couldn't believe that Anakin would have done this if he had been thinking clearly. "It appears that the Chancellor is behind everything, including the war. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we have been looking for. After the death of Count Dooku, Anakin became his new apprentice," Obi-Wan sadly explained.

Obi-Wan sharply felt the cruel irony of the fact that Palpatine, of all people, should be the Sith Lord, when he had cautioned Anakin against that man in particular and even once felt the need to express his mounting concern about the Chancellor's ever increasing political power during a Council session. The Jedi Master had distrusted his own bad feeling about that man, and he didn't forgive himself for failing to really see what Palpatine had been doing, and for failing to be there when Anakin had needed him, even if Anakin might not have wanted his help.

The pain that Obi-Wan felt was mirrored on Padmé's face. The certainty that had been there just seconds before was replaced by worry and doubt, and tears filled her eyes. Her Anakin, her husband, the father of her children could never do such horrible things – could he? Suddenly, she was not quite so sure any more. Padmé turned away, no longer daring to look into Obi-Wan's eyes because she feared she might find the truth in them.

Suddenly, Padmé's living room resembled the top of Coruscant's most popular rotating restaurant when Anakin had not just gone to the toilet but had then proceeded to fiddle with some wiring he had found hidden behind a wall panel, which caused the rotating restaurant to literally spin out of control, because she got the feeling that her living room was spinning just as quickly. She staggered to the couch, hoping that she would not start throwing up again, not in front of Obi-Wan. She even completely forgot about her attempts at attracting Obi-Wan's interest with a seductive wriggle of her hips and she outright waddled over to the sofa.

"I don't believe you," she weakly whispered, her wide, sad eyes pleading with Obi-Wan to tell her that it was all a lie, that everything was all right. "I can't," she finally admitted, at the end of her strength. Grateful for the steadying support of the soft cushions, Padmé plopped down on the couch.

Obi-Wan hated himself for doing this to Padmé. He knew how his broken heart hurt, but he could not imagine how painful this betrayal must be for Padmé, who had not just been Anakin's friend, but his love – and Obi-Wan supposed it was a bit easier for him, too, because he was not carrying Anakin's children. Not that he wanted to, or that he was even biologically capable, no matter what the sick notions of some people might whisper. Reining in his straying and not to mention rather disturbing thoughts, Obi-Wan also walked over to the couch.

"Padmé," he said, his voice full of compassion and sympathy for Padmé's predicament. "I must find him."

And although he was loath to further press the disconsolate mother-to-be, he would not give up before he had not spoken with Anakin. Padmé had to suffer from Anakin's treason, but she was not the cause for it. And although his rational mind told him that he could not have prevented Anakin from turning to the Dark Side, either, Obi-Wan couldn't help but feel that he was at least partially responsible, that it was his fault.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" Padmé suddenly realized, gasping in shock.

Obi-Wan nearly flinched at the accusation. The last thing he wanted to do was kill Anakin, his former Padawan, his friend, his brother. And yet, he had very well understood what Yoda demanded of him, what was his duty, in the end. He knew what was expected of him, but he knew that this time, he could not do his duty. He knew also that doing nothing would have disastrous consequences. So he had to do something, even though he refused to resort to the ultimate, irrevocable measure Yoda had implied.

"He has become a very great threat," he answered, which was the truth, but which did not answer Padmé's question with an irrepealably, terribly final yes.

Padmé shook her head, not wanting to believe what Obi-Wan had told her, that Obi-Wan would really see the need to go so far that he didn't answer her horrible question with a definite no.

"I can't," she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice choked with shock and grief.

Obi-Wan understood that. Padmé was not bound by an Order that was all but dead, had not sworn to always follow the will of the Force, was not bound by guilt to stop Anakin from committing further heinous deeds. She only followed her heart, and her heart was telling her that what Obi-Wan had said couldn't be true, even though her head knew that Obi-Wan would not lie to her.

Nothing could be gained from staying any longer, except further pain. Obi-Wan got up from the couch and was about to leave when he turned around one last time. He wanted to show Padmé that he understood, that he felt incredibly sorry for what he had to do to her, that he was not without sympathy.

"Anakin is the father, isn't he." It was not a question. "I am so sorry."

The apology hidden behind these words had not the expected effect on Padmé, though. To his surprise, Padmé's eyes sparkled furiously and she glared at him.

"You are sorry that Anakin is the father now?" she screamed, getting up and storming towards Obi-Wan, stabbing his chest repeatedly with an accusatory finger, nearly attacking the suddenly very confused Jedi Master. "Of course Anakin is the father! And that is entirely your fault!"

Obi-Wan involuntarily retreated a few steps. He did have a tendency to blame himself for a lot of things that were not his fault, but not even he could see the reasoning behind Padmé's accusation.

"How…" was all Obi-Wan could stammer before Padmé launched into a passionate rant, pacing back and forth in front of him agitatedly.

"Well, it's too late now to be sorry. It could have been you! It should have been you! You could have been the father of our children if only you had wanted. Our children would have been so cute! But no, you ignored all my advances and the obvious implications. For thirteen long years, you ignored me. Well, Anakin didn't, and I was neither blind nor insensitive to his rather obvious charms. So now, my children will have sandy blond hair and light blue eyes instead of coppery hair and blue-grey eyes. I could only resist his whispered words of love and his passionate pleads for so long, never mind his hot body – rrrrrrrrrr!" Padmé snapped out of her furious rant for a moment to purr like a cat looking at a huge bowl of delicious cream. Obi-Wan backed off another step.

But Padmé was not done yet.

"And now that I finally gave in to Anakin, you suddenly turn up at the worst moment possible – the moment when my husband goes whacko and destroys half the galaxy – and say that you are sorry? Maybe you should have told me that before I married Anakin and got pregnant by him. Then you come here, ask me for permission to touch the twins, and then you actually mean the twins and not 'the twins'." Padmé made the gesture for quotation marks.

Obi-Wan grew increasingly puzzled, but the furious Senator could not be stopped.

" And after all that, after making me wait for thirteen years, after practically pushing me into the waiting arms of your Padawan, which ultimately made him turn to the Dark Side if what you say is true, you have the gall to say you are sorry?"

Padmé glared at Obi-Wan, clearly expecting some kind of answer – but for once, he was hard-pressed to find the right words. The confusion on top of everything that had happened during the last few hours was just too much. Obi-Wan tried to form some kind of coherent answer, but after a few unsuccessful tries, he finally gave it up.

"Don't you have anything to say to that?" Padmé asked, now a bit unsure herself. She had bared her heart, her very soul to Obi-Wan, but instead of the declaration of a secret love long concealed she had hoped for, expected even, she only received a glance that was growing more perplexed by the second, and a mute shake of the head.

By now, Padmé was anxiously chewing on her lower lip. She dared not meet Obi-Wan's eyes any longer.

The Jedi quietly whispered another apology.

Then he turned around, hid his face and the confusion clearly visible on it under the wide hood of his Jedi cloak and quickly escaped to his star fighter before Padmé could say another word, telling himself it was a strategical retreat rather than frightened flight.

oOo

Padmé stood there, shocked by her own boldness. The mood swings caused by her pregnancy in combination with the raging emotions caused by the end of the war, the alleged betrayal of the Jedi and Anakin's last visit was the reason for her emotional outbreak. Now that she had had some time to think about everything, she felt embarrassment tinge her face a brilliant red. Now, she would never be able to speak to Obi-Wan without dying of shame. Yes, she would absolutely die, should she ever have to face Obi-Wan again.

oOo

Just a few hours later…

"Anakin, you're breaking my heart," Padmé wept, while Obi-Wan appeared behind her in the doorway of the spaceship she arrived in. "You're going down a path I can't follow."

"Because of Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked suspiciously, glaring full of hate at his former Master. Anakin had always suspected that Padmé felt more for Obi-Wan han she had let on. Whenever his former Master had been near, Anakin had always felt like the second choice, had always been jealous of the attention he got from Padmé. What had been most infuriating, though, was that Obi-Wan seemed to be completely oblivious to the way Padmé looked at him, and so he never put a stop to it. Or maybe he hadn't wanted to stop it? Jealousy welled up inside Anakin anew. Obi-Wan always had to be the perfect Jedi, and it seemed that even his own wife preferred his Master over Anakin.

Padmé shuddered at the mention of Obi-Wan. Here was one Jedi she would never be able to face again, not after what she had done.

"Because of what you've done," she screamed, trying to change the subject, "because of what you plan to do. Stop. Stop now. Come back! I love you!" she desperately pleaded with Anakin.

"Liar!" Anakin roared, his glare still directed at Obi-Wan.

"No," Padmé gasped.

"You're with him," Anakin screamed, his eyes boring into Obi-Wan's.

I wish, Padmé thought, but he wouldn't have me. And now, I cannot even be his friend any longer, not after what I said to him.

"You brought him here to kill me!" Anakin shouted, stretching out her hand to choke Padmé with the Force.

Padmé fought the black nothing of unconsciousness. She had to hold on for her children, for her husband who clearly needed someone to right his skewed perception of reality.

At that moment, though, she heard Obi-Wan's commanding voice ordering Anakin to let her go, and decided that insensibility was maybe preferable to the rather embarrassing scene that might follow after all. Inky blackness surrounded her, one that would never really release her again.

oOo

Author's note: I would once again like to thank TotallyTropical for the challenge, and I hope you liked what I did with it and that I could live up to your expectations.

I also thank Whisperwhill, from whom I got the phrase "I am excited beyond repair". What a great sentence, I hope I used it to your liking.

And I would like to thank everyone who read this story. I hope you liked it, that would make me so glad. The only thing that would make me even gladder is if you could also leave a review!