Saudade
Morning cast a golden glow on the slumbering young lovers who had scarcely hours before hand exchanged the vows of marriage.
Padmé awoke, wondering in the haze of sleep if it had all been a dream. But the sight of her groom still sleeping beside her, his body so close she could feel its warmth, his soft breathing the only sound besides the birds singing outside, reminded her that it was all real. Anakin Skywalker was hers, and she was his. Forever.
Tenderly, she reached out and affectionately fingered the padawan braid that draped down from behind his ear to his chest. Ani's expression was serene; none of the pain of losing his mother or the trauma of losing his arm showed. In fact, he hadn't suffered from any nightmares the entire night. At peace like this, Anakin didn't look much like a powerful young Jedi; he looked cherubic, innocent, heartachingly beautiful. Padmé actually sighed aloud, then she impulsively placed a light kiss on his full lips.
Amazingly, that wasn't enough to wake him. 'Let him rest,' Padmé thought. 'He needs it.' She brushed her fingers through Anakin's short spiky hair, then sat up on her side. It was at this point she noticed that her new husband's body was barely hidden beneath the sheets. Gingerly, she moved the linens aside so that he was completely uncovered. Padmé cast an appreciative eye on her husband's form. The sunrise gave his skin a golden tone that only enhanced his beauty. The light also glistened off of the prosthetic arm folded across his torso. Even that didn't detract from him, though Padmé knew he was still self-conscious about it.
Padmé relished in the opportunity to really get a good look at Anakin. She had seen everything the night before of course, but it was in candlelight and there was little time for this kind of appraisal in the heat of passion. Anakin resembled the kind of statues Padmé had seen of youthful men all over Naboo that celebrated lithe, blossoming masculinity. 'I'd love to have him sculpted,' Padmé mused. 'But he'd probably be too shy.' Her gaze catalogued his every feature--the curve of his shoulders, the shape of his pectorals, the slenderness of his waist, the firmness of his thighs, the contour of his hip. She gazed boldly at his maleness it its nest of dark blond curls.
'It would have been a shame to have kept that hidden beneath Jedi robes his whole life.' Padmé blushed at the thought, surprised at herself. This was a new side to Padmé awakened by the sleeping young man beside her. She smiled down at him and softly traced a finger on his warm skin, from just below his folded arm down to his hip bone. Her hand was brushing over his buttock when his eyes fluttered open. He blinked up at her and his lips moved into a dazzling smile. Padmé's heart leaped up into her throat and her stomach fluttered.
"Good morning," he said, amused at her flushed cheeks and open mouth.
"Good morning to you too," Padmé said with an embarrassed smile. She slid her hand off of his body.
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what?'"
"You're blushing."
Padmé felt her cheeks get warmer. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." Anakin reached out with his real arm, took Padmé's hand in his own and kissed it. The simple gesture sent electricity throughout her body. She found herself locked in Anakin's intense stare.
"This time," he continued, turning back the sheets covering Padmé's body, "let me look at you."
It was going to be quite a morning.