Save a Shaak
by the Yellow Dart
With a soft smile, Padmé watched Anakin run jovially through the sun-drenched fields near Varykino. He deserved the chance to act like a child, if just for one afternoon. She laughed lightly as he darted between grazing shaak. After the last few months on the war's front lines, Anakin deserved -- no, needed -- a carefree afternoon with his wife.
Padmé's smile only grew as one of the larger shaak stopped grazing and stared directly at Anakin. No matter how many times they came to this meadow, Anakin was still captivated by the shaak. He'd never seen such docile, yet massive, animals growing up on Tatooine, so the shaak fascinated him. And after each picnic lunch, during each trip to this meadow, unfailingly, he would find some way to torture the poor beasts. Maybe the shaak had learned from their previous mistakes.
This time, it appeared that Anakin was, once again, planning to ride one. Anakin put his hands in front of him to calm the shaak, but to no avail. Padmé squealed with laughter as the shaak charged directly at Anakin. Using his Jedi-sharp reflexes, Anakin evaded the lumbering shaak's first cut.
He turned to Padmé, mid-sprint, and flashed a knowing grin. He sidestepped the charging shaak, without much effort.
Still chucking, Padmé locked eyes with him and said, "Anakin, maybe you should forget about riding a shaak --"
Before she could finish her thought, another shaak came behind him and slammed into his back. Without a sound, Anakin went flying over the shaak and landed face-down on the ground.
Even though she was pretty sure this was all a ploy to get her to kiss him, seeing Anakin land so violently made Padmé's stomach clench. "Anakin?" she yelled. When he didn't respond or move, her heart raced. Even though she was sure he was fine, she ran to him, shooing various shaak away as she ran down the hill to his immobile form.
When she leaned down to to touch his shoulder, he flipped over and pulled her on top of him. Squealing, she gently slapped his chest and exclaimed, "You just wanted me to come over here."
Shrugging, he offered no argument in his defense. Rather, he just flashed a lopsided smile as he pulled her down onto his chest.
"Anakin Skywalker . . ." she said, her protest half-hearted.
Before he kissed her senseless, Anakin managed to say, "Riding a shaak is so overrated."
Pulling away for a second, Padmé put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Then why do you do it every time we're here?"
With a smirk, Anakin declared, "Because it gets you to ride a Jedi." He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers, not letting her reply.