Now that the Empress/Sith Lord AU is all done, I decided to jump off the sin train for a little while and write another super fluffy, super G-rated modern AU :) This is lightly based off the excellent movie "The Proposal," except there's no threat of deportation and they don't start off hating each other. Hope you enjoy!
When he'd first started working for Amidala & Associates, Anakin had had the biggest, most embarrassing crush on the lawyer heading the practice. How could he not have? Padmé was beautiful and intelligent and kind and funny and perfect. From the moment he'd set foot inside the stately brick building, he'd been head-over-heels.
But as time passed, Anakin's onetime obsession gradually settled into friendship and a more mature affection. No longer a blushing, tongue-tied intern, he was now in his mid-twenties with a full-time position as the firm's secretary. Yes, he more or less occupied the lowest spot in the office pecking order, but it paid decently enough and he got along well with his coworkers, so he wasn't about to complain.
Running a bit late, as usual, Anakin jogged up the stairs Monday morning and nudged the office door open with his shoulder, a cup of coffee in each hand. Padmé was certainly not the type of boss to order him to bring her coffee every morning, but he always did, ever since one day during his first few months at the law firm when she had forgotten hers. She had looked so disappointed that Anakin had impulsively given her his as yet untouched cup. She had beamed delightedly at him, and he had decided that a couple extra dollars each day would be worth it, if it meant she'd look at him like that. Even though he was no longer so desperate for her attention, by now it was such a habit that it would never even have occurred to him to stop.
"Oh," said Padmé that day when he walked into her office. "Hello, Anakin."
Taken aback by her gloomy tone and the embarrassed expression on her face, Anakin smiled hesitantly as he passed her one of the cups. She took it, mumbled a thank you, and refused to look at him. Anakin was concerned, as Padmé was normally pretty cheerful, but he figured it was none of his business and went back outside to sit at his desk by the front door.
A couple hours dragged by uneventfully. Padmé stayed shut up in her office, and Anakin didn't interact with her at all except to forward a few phone calls. As he worked on catching up on filing, he wondered absently what was going on with her; she'd usually always come out into the main office to walk around checking on everyone and chatting.
But he soon put it out of his mind as lunch approached and his stomach began growling. He had decided to take his break after answering one last email when he heard voices from the hallway outside, and the door burst open.
A young brown-haired woman was standing there, accompanied by an older man and woman to whom she bore a strong resemblance. "Anakin Skywalker!" she exclaimed.
The young woman looked vaguely familiar, but Anakin had never seen the other two before in his life. "Uh, can I help you?" he asked in confusion.
The young woman grinned delightedly at him. "As if he doesn't know why we're here! So adorable. I can see why Padmé likes him."
Anakin continued to stare at them, bemused. "We were thrilled when we heard the news," the older woman chimed in. "Surprised, of course, not to mention a bit cross that Padmé kept it from us for so long, but really just thrilled, and so happy for you both."
"Oh. Um, th-thank you?" Anakin stammered. And before he knew what was going on, the young woman had grabbed his arm and pulled him out from behind his desk to envelop him in a suffocating hug. The older woman followed suit, and the man heartily shook his hand.
By then the entire office had stopped working to watch, and Anakin was growing seriously alarmed and more than a little embarrassed. Suddenly he heard a voice saying, "Mom? Dad? Sola? What are you doing here?"
He whipped his head around and saw with relief that Padmé was hurrying towards them, looking severely distressed. "Well, you were being so cagey about us meeting Anakin, honey," the older woman, whom Anakin supposed must be her mother, replied. "So we decided to take matters into our own hands."
"It wouldn't do to meet our future son-in-law for the first time at the wedding, now, would it?" added Padmé's father, chuckling.
Their future…what? At the what? Anakin gaped at them. Was this some kind of elaborate practical joke? He turned to stare at Padmé, silently begging her for an explanation, and she returned his gaze with one of sheer panic and mortification. But a split second later she composed herself and said, "Why don't you wait for me in my office? I need to speak with Anakin for a minute." She ushered her family away, hissing "Don't move!" under her breath at Anakin. He was only too happy to oblige; he didn't think he could have moved if he'd tried.
When Padmé returned, she immediately yanked Anakin out into the hallway, the curious eyes of their coworkers following them. "What's going on?" he blurted out as soon as she'd closed the door behind them. "Was that your family? How do they know me? What—?"
"They think I'm engaged to you," Padmé interrupted, flushing a deep scarlet.
Anakin's mouth dropped open once again. "Sorry, what?"
"It's kind of a long story," she mumbled.
Anakin let out a flabbergasted huff. "I'm all ears."
Padmé sighed. "They're constantly badgering me about settling down and starting a family. I've told them time and time again I'd rather focus on my career right now, but then they always say, 'Well, look at Sola. She's married with two kids and a successful career. You could have it all, too, if you really wanted, Padmé.' So we were all having dinner together Saturday night, and my mother asked me yet again if there was anyone in my life yet, and I just kind of snapped and told her that there was, actually, and in fact, we were engaged."
"Okay," said Anakin slowly. "Then, what, I was the first person you thought of?"
"Well, they asked me who it was, and I had no idea what to say, obviously, but then Sola said she bet she knew who it was. I was relieved and asked her who, and she said, 'That cute secretary who used to be obsessed with you,' and I didn't have any better ideas, so I just kind of went with it," Padmé said, sounding part-embarrassed and part-defensive.
"Oh. Well." Then he frowned. "First of all, I did not used to be obsessed with you. Second of all, how did Sola know I was 'cute'?" Anakin put air quotes around the word with his fingers. "Has she ever seen me before?"
"She's met me here for lunch a couple times. You don't remember? I'm pretty sure I introduced you guys at least once."
He shrugged. "A lot of people come in here, how am I supposed to remember all of them?"
"All right, whatever," said Padmé impatiently. "We have bigger problems to worry about right now than your horrible facial recognition skills."
"Yeah," Anakin replied, growing even more indignant as the rest of her story finally started to sink in. "I cannot believe you told your whole family we're engaged. Why would you do that?"
"I don't know!" Padmé cried. "It just came out! And then they got so excited, and what was I supposed to do, say 'sorry, just kidding'? I figured I could keep up the pretense for a couple weeks and then say we broke up and no one would be any the wiser. I assumed it would be easy to keep them away from you and to prevent you from ever finding out about the whole thing, but clearly I was wrong."
"No kidding," Anakin muttered. "Well, you'd better get back in there and explain everything to them."
Padmé bit her lip and looked sideways at him. "Or…you could play along for the afternoon?"
"Excuse me?"
"In their eyes, it's bad enough that I'm hopelessly single, and it'll be so much worse if they think I was so, I don't know, desperate that I made up a fiancé. And they'll be really upset that I lied to them about something like this. Couldn't you just go with it for a day? Please?" she wheedled.
Anakin scowled. "If you give me a raise."
"That would be unethical."
"An extra week of vacation, then."
"Two days."
"Five."
"Three."
"Four."
"Three."
Anakin considered the offer. "Propose."
"What?"
"Ask me to fake marry you. Down on one knee."
Padmé stared at him, annoyed, but he just looked right back at her, so she finally heaved a loud sigh and dropped to one knee. She took his hands and said rather sarcastically, "Anakin Skywalker, will you fake marry me?"
Anakin grinned. "I would love to, my fake wife-to-be."
Padmé rolled her eyes and stood back up, dusting herself off. "Thanks. I owe you big time," she admitted.
"Yeah, you do."
Padmé spent about sixty seconds briefing him on Everything Someone Engaged To Her Should Know, most of which Anakin promptly forgot, before going back inside and leading him to her office. Her parents and sister were already seated, and the two newcomers pulled up chairs beside them, Anakin nervously edging his as close to Padmé's as he dared, as if being near her would protect him from her family.
Introductions were made—Padmé loudly stressed that her family's last name was Naberrie, not Amidala, which was lucky for Anakin, as she'd only briefly mentioned the fact once a few years ago and he'd long since forgotten. They made small talk for a few minutes, but the Naberries were clearly eager to dive into the details of the unexpected relationship. Indeed, Padmé's father, Ruwee, soon turned a stern eye on Anakin and said, "So, it would appear you never had any plans of asking me for my daughter's hand, Anakin."
Anakin gulped. Meeting a fake fiancée's parents was almost as terrifying as he imagined meeting a real one's would be. Padmé frowned at her father. "What is this, the eighteen hundreds? I don't need your permission to get engaged to someone, Dad."
"Of course you don't," he hastily assured her. "I'm just saying it would have been a courteous gesture. Or he could've at least introduced himself to us first."
"I'm sorry, sir," Anakin said. How on earth had he gotten himself into this situation? "It just, uh, it just all happened so fast, didn't it, babe?"
"Sure did, darling," Padmé replied, grabbing his hand for emphasis.
"Speaking of that, we haven't heard the story," said Sola.
"Story?" asked Anakin blankly.
"Of how you two got engaged," she explained. "Hell, we didn't even know you were dating!"
"You can blame Padmé for that one. You know how secretive she is about her personal life." That earned Anakin an appreciative laugh, and he smirked smugly at Padmé. She kept a smile frozen on her face, but her eyes shot him a look of pure venom.
"Why don't you tell them how it all happened, then, Ani?" she suggested innocently.
"Oh, no, you love telling the story, sweetheart. You should do the honors."
"Honey, I insist," she said through gritted teeth.
"Yes, Anakin, you should tell us," agreed Jobal. "Padmé refused to say a word about it the other night."
Four pairs of eyes turned expectantly towards him. This was the worst day of Anakin's life. "Well, it all started when we met here at work," he began, praying that inspiration would strike him as he spoke. "You know, I think she always kind of liked me, but she refused to admit it. It took a few years, but eventually Padmé had to acknowledge to herself how great I was and how lucky she would be to have someone like me."
She glared at him, still smiling. "So lucky."
"And then once that happened, she just chased after me for months," Anakin continued, beginning to enjoy himself. "I let her do it for a while because it was pretty entertaining, but then she started getting really desperate, so I finally gave in and agreed to go on a date with her. And it was just true love after that, wasn't it, darling?"
"Mm-hmm." Anakin felt a sort of perverse delight at her annoyance. Served her right for sticking him right in the middle of this mess. "I'll tell the story of how you proposed, shall I?"
"But—"
"It was only a few weeks ago," Padmé interrupted him. "Anakin made dinner for us—he does all the cooking, and all the cleaning and the laundry and just everything, really, because his job leaves him with so much more free time than mine does. After we'd finished eating, he started talking about how much he loved me and how terrible his life had been before I was a part of it. He was all choked up and full-out crying by the end—he's very emotional, you know, very sensitive. Always cries during romcoms. Anyway, he finished his speech and asked me to marry him, and I said yes. And now here we are."
Anakin gave her a withering look, which she ignored as the Naberries applauded. "Young love," sighed Jobal, wiping her eyes.
Padmé clapped her hands together. "Now that that's over with, who wants lunch?"
They all went to a restaurant down the street, and to Anakin's relief, Padmé and her family carried the conversation for most of the meal, him having to jump in only occasionally when directly asked a question. Once they'd finished eating, Ruwee, Jobal, and Sola headed home while Anakin and Padmé walked back to the office.
"See? That wasn't so bad," said Padmé.
Anakin snorted. "Speak for yourself. I think I just aged about twenty years from all that stress. Can we break up now?"
"Just give it another month. Don't worry, I'll make sure you never have to see my family again."
Needless to say, Anakin spent the rest of the day in a very distracted mood, and he flopped down on the couch face-first as soon as he got back to his apartment that evening.
"Long day?" asked Obi-Wan, his roommate.
Anakin groaned loudly into the pillow. "I was engaged to Padmé for over an hour," he said in a muffled voice.
"What?"
He rolled over and saw Obi-Wan looking baffled. Anakin explained the whole story. By the time he finished, Obi-Wan was highly amused.
"So the woman you used to be in love with asked you to pretend to be in love with her? Tell me you see how ironic that is."
"Shut up," Anakin whined as Obi-Wan laughed heartily. "It was horrible."
"You didn't enjoy it even a little?" asked Obi-Wan, grinning. "For old times' sake?"
Anakin threw the pillow at him.
A couple weeks passed without incident, and Anakin started to put the whole ordeal behind him. Or at least, he did until his cell phone rang during work one day and he saw that his mother was calling.
He glanced around the room. Padmé was a few feet away, talking to a paralegal, but he figured if she yelled at him for taking a personal call during work, he could easily point out that she still owed him. After all, three vacation days were nowhere near enough to make up for all the trauma he'd suffered having to pretend to be her fiancé for an hour or two.
Anakin slipped out into the hall and held the phone up to his ear. "Mom? Is everything okay?"
"Why didn't you tell me you were getting married?" Shmi's voice said loudly on the other end.
"Huh?"
She began recounting a confusing tale of how so-and-so had told her that so-and-so told so-and-so that so-and-so heard from Jobal Naberrie that her daughter was engaged to Anakin Skywalker. "Ani, I can't believe you didn't tell me! Do you know how it felt to hear from someone else that my own son is engaged and didn't even bother letting me know?"
Logically, Anakin knew the whole thing was absurd, as he wasn't actually engaged, but that didn't stop him from feeling awful at how hurt his mother sounded. "I'm really sorry, Mom. But I can explain. The thing is—"
"No, I think I understand," said Shmi with a sigh. "From what I heard, it sounded like you two hadn't been together very long before you proposed. You were worried I'd think you were moving too fast."
"Actually—"
"But Ani, I want you to know that I'm happy as long as you're happy. I couldn't care less if you and Padmé have been dating for a month or five years, if you really love each other."
"Well, thanks, Mom. But—"
"I want to meet her," Shmi interrupted.
"What?" spluttered Anakin. "Uh, I don't think—"
"Her parents have met you," she pointed out.
"I mean, yeah, except—"
"Wonderful. How about this Friday? You two can head over here after work. I'll make dinner."
"That would be nice, but Mom—"
"Okay, great! See you then." And she hung up.
Anakin stared at his phone for a moment, aghast, before groaning and lightly hitting his head against the wall. Things had gone from bad to worse.
A moment later, he was marching into Padmé's office and slamming the door. "We need to talk."
She barely even glanced up from her paperwork. "What's up?"
"Through a very elaborate train of gossip, my mother heard about our supposed engagement, and now she's expecting us both for dinner on Friday."
That got her attention. Padmé dropped her pen and stared at him. "What?"
"This is all your fault," Anakin complained. "It was one thing lying to your parents, but now you've made me lie to my mom. I've never lied to her in my entire life!"
Padmé raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Not even once?"
"Well, never about anything this big, that's for sure!"
"Why didn't you just explain it to her?"
"I tried, but she just kept talking and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. She probably wouldn't have understood why we did it, anyway. I don't even understand why we did it. I can't believe you thought this was a good idea."
"You agreed," Padmé countered.
"You made me!"
"Look, it's not a big deal," she said soothingly. "You had lunch with my family, so I suppose it's only fair I have dinner with yours. It'll be fine. She'll love me."
"That's what I'm afraid of," muttered Anakin. "She'll love you, and then she'll be heartbroken when we 'break up' in a few weeks."
"Not as heartbroken as you'll be, I'm sure," Padmé teased.
Anakin rolled his eyes, told her to be ready after work on Friday, then stomped back to his desk.
Anakin's childhood home was a tiny one-story place. He and his mother had never had much money, and he was a little embarrassed to bring Padmé there, as he'd always gotten the sense that she came from a pretty wealthy background, an impression that had only been strengthened by his afternoon with her family. But when they pulled into the driveway, she gave a genuine smile and said it looked like a wonderful house to grow up in.
Shmi opened the door only a moment after Anakin knocked. "Ani!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and kissing him on the cheek.
Anakin hugged her back. "Hi, Mom. How are you?"
"Same as always," she chuckled, drawing away. Her eyes fell on Padmé. "And this must be Padmé!"
"Hi, Ms. Skywalker," said Padmé a little shyly.
"Shmi," Anakin's mother corrected, and she immediately reached out to hug a startled but willing Padmé.
Shmi ushered them into the house and began asking questions as soon as they sat down. Anakin and Padmé told her the same story they'd told the Naberries, albeit a less passive-aggressive version, and Anakin's mother seemed satisfied. "You know, now that I've been thinking about it, I can't say I'm that surprised," she told them.
"Really?" Anakin and Padmé said together, equally confused.
Shmi nodded. "Ani's been talking about you since the day he started working at your firm. I always suspected he had feelings for you," she said, smiling fondly.
Unsuccessfully trying to suppress a smirk, Padmé raised her eyebrows at a furiously blushing Anakin. "Is that so?"
"She's exaggerating," mumbled Anakin, but Shmi shook her head, laughing, and exchanged a conspiratorial look with Padmé.
Dinner was ready a few minutes later, and they moved to sit at the kitchen table. Shmi and Padmé took to each other immediately, and Anakin was feeling so comfortable and having such a good time that more than once, he had to remind himself that he and Padmé weren't actually together. Still, he couldn't deny how oddly nice it felt to see her and his mother getting along so well, though he tried to push the thought out of his mind. This was a one-time thing. Within a few weeks, everything would be back to normal.
"You did great," Anakin told Padmé later that evening as he drove her home.
Padmé smiled. "It wasn't exactly hard. Your mom is amazing."
"I know," said Anakin proudly.
She glanced sideways at him. "What she said about you always talking about me…"
Anakin reddened again. "I told you, she was exaggerating."
"Then why are you blushing?"
That only made him blush harder, and Padmé snickered. "All right, fine," Anakin said grumpily. "I may have had a tiny crush on you when I first started working there. Happy?"
"Yep. I always knew you did, I just wanted to hear you say it."
Anakin nearly ran a red light. "You knew?" he half-shouted, slamming on the breaks just in time and causing the car behind him to honk angrily.
"Of course I did," she said, laughing even harder. "You could barely string two sentences together when you talked to me, not to mention your face was always about as red as it is right now. It was pretty adorable, actually. Plus, you've bought me coffee every day for years."
"That's just a habit," Anakin insisted. "I mean, I guess I first started doing it because I liked you, but now it's only because I've always done it."
"You don't like me anymore, then?"
His eyes went back to the road as the light turned green again. "Not like that."
There was a slight pause. "Oh." Her voice was carefully neutral. She cleared her throat. "Turn here. This is my street."
Padmé lived in a nice neighborhood; her apartment wasn't too far from the office, though Anakin and Obi-Wan's was on the other side of town. "Thanks for the ride," she said as he pulled over. "And for dinner. I'm sorry again for getting you involved in all this."
"That's all right," Anakin replied, and he was surprised to realize that he actually meant it.
The weeks passed, and soon the timeframe in which they'd planned to stage a breakup came and went. Anakin often wondered if he should bring up the subject with Padmé, but for some reason he could never do it, and she didn't say a word about it either. Spending time with each other's families started becoming a more regular occurrence, and sometimes both the Naberries and the Skywalkers would have dinner together. Considering their very different backgrounds, Shmi and Anakin's future in-laws—fake future in-laws, he corrected himself—got along surprisingly well. In fact, the Naberries soon invited both her and Anakin to join them at their lakehouse for a couple weeks in July.
"I don't think you have enough vacation time left for the whole two weeks," Padmé informed him when Anakin asked her what she thought about the proposition.
"I do, actually, thanks to those three extra days," he pointed out smugly.
She rolled her eyes. "I probably shouldn't have agreed to that, but what's done is done, I guess. I think you and Shmi should come if you want. It'll be fun. And it'll convince all of them even more about us."
"Convince them," Anakin repeated with an odd hollow feeling in his stomach. "Right. Well, guess I'd better go buy a bathing suit, then."
"You don't have a bathing suit?"
"I haven't been to the beach since I was a kid. I hate sand."
"Interesting."
"Hey, these are the kinds of things you really ought to know about your future husband."
Padmé laughed, and Anakin left her office with an inexplicable bubble of warmth in his chest.
The day of departure arrived, and Anakin and Shmi drove out to the address the Naberries had given them. Padmé, her parents, and Sola were already there when the Skywalkers drove up, as were Sola's husband and their two young daughters, whom Anakin had met once or twice before.
Padmé ran over to meet them as they got out of the car. "Hey," she said, smiling and giving Anakin a quick hug.
"Come on, Padmé, is that any way to greet your fiancé?" Sola teased, approaching with the rest of the family. "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen you two kiss."
"Oh," said Padmé, looking embarrassed and a little anxious. "Well, we're not big on PDA."
"We're not in public, so it's not PDA," Sola countered.
"But—"
Padmé was cut off as Anakin impulsively grazed his fingers against her cheek, tilting her head up towards him. He gave her a shrug and a small smile, then leaned down to brush her lips with his own. Anakin felt her inhale in surprise, but then she started kissing him back and slid her arms around his waist. Her mouth was soft and warm, and Anakin closed his eyes, lost in the moment. He pulled her closer to him, parting his lips slightly to deepen the kiss, and she responded, slipping her tongue into his mouth—
They simultaneously realized what they were doing and swiftly stepped apart, flushing. Ryoo and Pooja were shrieking "Eww!" but the adults were all grinning and laughing.
Sola whistled. "Okay, point proven. Jeez."
Padmé mumbled something incoherent while Anakin cleared his throat, cheeks still warm. Thankfully, everyone soon dispersed as Ruwee brought the Skywalkers inside. He showed Shmi to her room, then led Anakin a little ways down the hall. "This room is yours and Padmé's," he said, opening the door.
"Mine and—?" Anakin caught himself hastily. "I mean, thank you." Ruwee smiled and left him to unpack.
Anakin gazed around the room. It was quite spacious, but there was most decidedly only one bed. This was a situation he hadn't even thought to account for. Sighing, he placed his bags on the ground and went back downstairs, figuring he and Padmé could deal with it later.
Padmé's nieces insisted upon going swimming almost as soon as Anakin and Shmi had joined everyone else on the porch, and within half an hour, they were all trooping down to the beach. Padmé stretched out on a towel with a book, and Anakin put his own towel beside hers and lay contentedly in the sun with his eyes closed.
After about twenty minutes, Anakin heard a pair of high-pitched voices calling, "Uncle Anakin! Uncle Anakin!"
He cracked an eye open, saw Ryoo and Pooja hurrying towards him, considered telling them that he wasn't actually their uncle and never would be, decided that would cause more problems than it would solve, and instead said only, "What's up?"
"Will you help us build a sandcastle?" asked Ryoo.
"Please?" added Pooja eagerly.
Anakin opened his mouth to say no. Sand was the worst, and using it to make a castle sounded like torture. But then he saw how hopefully they were looking at him, and he found himself sitting up and saying, "All right."
The girls cheered and led him a little closer to the water, where the sand was wet and compact. Anakin's work mostly involved filling buckets with sand, dutifully placing them upside down in the instructed spot, and removing the buckets from the newly-created towers afterwards, because whenever he attempted to do some of the more detailed decorating, he got scolded for making the castle look ugly. When the project was completed and Anakin saw the delight in Ryoo and Pooja's eyes as they surveyed their masterpiece, he didn't even mind the sand sticking all over his arms and legs. And when he glanced back over at Padmé and saw the fond smile on her face as she watched Anakin play with her nieces (and the way she blushed and quickly pretended to be engrossed in her book when she realized he was looking), he minded even less.
Ryoo and Pooja soon decided they wanted to go swimming again, and Anakin returned to his towel. "How did it turn out?" asked Padmé, as if she hadn't been watching the whole time.
"You're looking at a master sandcastle architect," Anakin informed her, and she laughed.
They stayed at the lake for the rest of the afternoon and evening and had a picnic dinner on the beach. When night fell, they returned to the house. Ryoo and Pooja went to bed soon afterwards, and the adults spent a few hours chatting and relaxing before following them.
Anakin and Padmé's good spirits were slightly dampened when they arrived in their bedroom and remembered the problem at hand. "I could sleep on the floor," Anakin offered.
"Absolutely not," said Padmé, shaking her head. "You're our guest. If anyone's sleeping on the floor, it'll be me."
"But—"
"I don't know if that would be a good idea, anyway," she continued. "I mean, what if someone comes in and sees one of us sleeping on the floor? Then they'll know something's up."
"What should we do, then?"
She blushed. "We could just both sleep in the bed."
Anakin raised his eyebrows. "Are you trying to seduce me?"
Padmé snorted. "You wish. Besides, it's huge. We won't even touch each other."
Anakin acknowledged that it was a good plan, and they both took turns in the bathroom showering and getting ready for bed. Anakin suddenly wished he'd brought something more than boxers to sleep in, though he supposed that he was technically wearing as much clothing as he had been at the lake an hour earlier.
After getting in bed, they lay in silence for ten minutes before Padmé asked, "Do you ever want to actually get married?" Anakin rolled over to stare at her, and she hurriedly added, "Not to me, obviously. I just meant in general."
He considered the question. "Well, it's usually in the picture whenever I think about what I'd like my future to be like, I guess. You?"
She shrugged with the shoulder she wasn't lying on. "I always used to want to, when I was younger. I'm not as sure now, though. It's like I tell my parents all the time, I'm afraid that if I get married and especially if I have kids, all I'll be able to be is a wife and a mother. Having kids…you have to take so much time off to take care of them. I've worked too hard to get my career to where it is now only to throw it all away. I don't want to spend the rest of my life deciding between my job and my family."
"It doesn't have to be like that," Anakin said. "There's all sorts of daycares and stuff. And your hypothetical husband could take time off to watch your hypothetical kids, too. You wouldn't have to be the only one making sacrifices, unless your hypothetical husband's a total dick."
Padmé giggled. "I guess you have a point. And, you know, seeing Sola so happy with her family…it makes me want that, too, every now and then. I love being an aunt, but sometimes I can't help wishing that I had children of my own."
"I've always wanted kids," confided Anakin. "I mean, I loved growing up just me and my mom, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but at the same time, I always wondered what it would be like to be part of a big family, like you are."
"Mine's not that big," Padmé disagreed. "Just me and Sola and our parents, and now Sola's family, too."
"That's still bigger than mine ever was."
Padmé conceded the point. "I could see you as a dad," she said a moment later, smiling slightly. "Ryoo and Pooja already love you, and they haven't even known you that long."
"What can I say?" Anakin replied. "I'm good with kids."
She laughed again. "Your hypothetical future wife will be a very lucky woman, then."
That made Anakin blush, for some reason, but it was too dark for Padmé to notice, and they fell into a comfortable silence.
Within half an hour, Padmé's breathing grew slow and even, but Anakin was tossing and turning. He was lying facing away from her when he felt something brush his side; he glanced down and saw that she'd thrown her arm across him. He lay stock still for a minute, no idea what to do. All he knew was that if she woke up, it would be embarrassing for both of them. After a few minutes, he carefully turned over so that they were face-to-face. Padmé murmured something in her sleep and shifted closer until she was snuggled up against his chest.
Anakin's heart was pounding so loud he was sure it would wake her, but she slept on. Without really knowing what he was doing, he tentatively draped his own arm over her waist. She didn't stir. Anakin felt his eyes growing heavy, and soon he, too, drifted off to sleep.
When Anakin awoke the next morning, Padmé was still nestled in his arms. He gazed at her for a long moment, unable to help himself. The morning sunlight was streaming in through the curtains over the window behind him, illuminating her face, which was framed by a mass of long, tangled curls. She looked…beautiful. A strange feeling surged in Anakin's gut as he looked at her, something that reminded him of how he used to feel when they'd first met.
But then she shifted slightly and he quickly moved away from her, afraid she'd wake up and be alarmed by how closely together they'd slept. Padmé's eyes remained shut, and Anakin somewhat reluctantly climbed out of bed and started getting dressed. He was sticking his head through a T-shirt when she sleepily mumbled, "Good morning."
Anakin turned and saw Padmé blinking lazily at him, yawning. "Good morning."
"Sleep well?" she asked.
He grinned. "That's got to be the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. How'd you sleep?"
"Like a baby." She sat up and stretched, one of the straps of her nightgown sliding off her shoulder. Anakin quickly glanced away, swallowing.
He waited until Padmé was ready before following her downstairs for breakfast. That day passed in much the same fashion as the previous one, everyone relaxing and swimming and chatting, as did all the days following it. Anakin and Padmé would often stay up late talking about any number of things, though they both diligently avoided mentioning the kiss they'd shared on the first day, as well as the inevitable end to their fake engagement.
The charade had been going on for so long that Anakin felt utterly at ease in his role as Padmé's fiancé. The families that had initially been surprised and a little doubtful no longer suspected a thing. Anakin felt guilt gnawing in his stomach as Shmi and Padmé's parents eagerly discussed wedding plans nearly every day of the trip, faces alight with excitement despite his and Padmé's continual vague responses to the question of setting a date. He knew they'd have to stage a breakup eventually and that the longer they waited, the more disappointed their families would be, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, and neither, it seemed, could Padmé.
They were having lunch on the last day, and conversation had once again turned to the supposedly upcoming wedding. "Maybe next spring," Jobal said thoughtfully. "May is a beautiful time of year."
Sola nodded in agreement. "What kind of dress are you going to wear, Padmé?"
"I haven't thought about it," said Padmé evasively, poking at her salad.
"Seems like you haven't thought about an awful lot of things as far as this wedding's concerned," Ruwee observed.
Padmé shrugged; Anakin thought she looked rather ill. Perhaps she was feeling the same guilt that plagued him at seeing their families so happy about a lie. "It's not like we're in a big rush, are we, Ani?"
"No," Anakin agreed uncomfortably.
"I was thinking," Shmi began a little hesitantly. "I love to sew, and, Padmé, I thought maybe I could make your veil, if you wanted."
Padmé's fork stilled as she lifted her eyes to stare at Shmi. "What?"
Shmi smiled at her. "My father's mother made one for my mother when they married, and ever since Ani was a little boy, I've dreamed of doing the same for his bride. Maybe once you've picked out your dress—"
There was a small sniffling sound, and suddenly Padmé started to cry. Everyone turned to look at her, alarmed. "Padmé?" asked Anakin, gently placing his hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry," she said between sobs. "I can't—I can't do it anymore."
Blood started thrumming in Anakin's ears. "What do you mean, sweetie?" asked Jobal, confused and worried.
Padmé took a shuddering breath. "Anakin and I aren't really engaged. We never were."
Anakin stared down at his feet, unable to bear seeing their reactions. "What are you talking about?" said Ruwee.
"It was all a lie, right from the beginning," Padmé burst out. "I was just so tired of the disappointed looks on your faces every time I said that I was still single, so I told you I was engaged, and Sola thought it was Anakin, and I let you all believe it. It was just supposed to be a little white lie and I'd tell you we broke up a few weeks later, but then you came to the office to see him and things just got out of hand."
Anakin chanced a glance upwards. The entire table was looking from Padmé to him and back again, dumbfounded. He lowered his gaze again, shame coursing through him.
"Please don't be mad at Anakin," Padmé continued desperately. "Everything was my fault. I begged him to play along because I was too embarrassed to tell you I'd lied, and he agreed because he's an amazing, wonderful person. This whole thing was my idea, and I was supposed to fake a breakup after a few weeks, but I never did because—because I—" She broke off, and out of the corner of his eye Anakin could see an expression of anguish on her face. "I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. And—and Shmi, thank you for being so kind and welcoming to me even though I didn't deserve it. Whoever Anakin does end up marrying will be so lucky to be a part of your family."
With that, Padmé pushed her chair back from the table and ran out the front door, leaving a shocked silence in her wake. Finally, Ruwee turned to Anakin and asked gravely, "Is all of that true?"
Anakin slowly nodded. "Every word," he said quietly. "We shouldn't have let this go on for so long. I'm really sorry."
He finally looked up once more, prepared to meet looks of disappointment and anger, but was startled to see nothing of the sort. In fact, they were all looking at him with kindness in their eyes. "You love her," said Sola softly. "Don't you?"
Anakin opened his mouth to protest, then realized he couldn't.
"And she loves you," added Jobal.
"What?"
"I know my daughter," she said, smiling gently. "Trust me."
Anakin gazed at her in wonder, then turned to his mother as she touched his arm. "Don't let her go, Ani," said Shmi.
He stared at them all for another minute, then without a word, he dashed outside.
Anakin had no idea where Padmé would have gone, but instinct led him down to the lake. As luck would have it, he saw a figure sitting on the dock, legs dangling in the water. "Padmé!" he yelled as he approached. "Padmé!"
She turned, saw him, then looked away again. A few moments later, Anakin plopped down beside her, slightly out of breath.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"What for?"
She gestured wildly. "All of it. Causing a scene back there and then running out and leaving you alone to deal with the fallout. Dragging you into this in the first place. Everything."
"I'm glad you did," Anakin said fiercely, and she glanced sideways at him, surprised. "Padmé, if not for this absurd situation we're now in, I don't know if I ever would've realized that I—I'm in love with you."
Padmé stiffened and turned to look him in the eye at last. "What?"
Anakin felt himself flushing, but he plunged forward. "I've seen you almost every day for the past four years, and yet once I got over that ridiculous crush I used to have on you, I never again thought twice about how I felt about you. It took months of pretending to be engaged to you before I finally figured out I loved you."
Her mouth was slightly open. "You—you love me?"
"Yes." Then Anakin added boldly, "When you were saying, back there, that you didn't end our fake engagement…you stopped before you said the reason. Why didn't you, Padmé? Why didn't you end it?"
Padmé didn't answer for a long time. "Because…I fell in love with you along the way," she finally said in a small voice.
That was all Anakin needed to hear, and he crushed his lips against hers, snaking one arm around her waist and twining the other in her hair, knocking her careful updo askew, and then Padmé was kissing him back and grabbing his shirt to pull him closer to her, and it was like their kiss two weeks earlier, and yet it was so much more.
At long last they broke apart, foreheads and noses touching as they smiled breathlessly at each other. "Padmé," said Anakin, "will you fake break up with me so I can date you?"
"Well, we've already gotten meeting the parents over with," she replied. "What have we got to lose?"
Anakin laughed and bent to kiss her again.