I don't own anything in the galaxy far, far away. Too bad. I would love to cuddle up with my very own Obi-Wan... You might have seen this posted under another user name on another board. I am the author, just using another name. You may PM the author (VaderLVR64) on that board to make sure. I will make sure to answer! :D

"I couldn't fall out of love with you if I fell all the way to hell." J.D. Robb Portrait in Death

All the Way to Hell

It was a perfect day, and it was rich with the promise of more to come. Soft breezes carried the crisp, moist scent of the waterfalls, the songs of the birds surrounded them, and they had no obligations to anyone but each other for the next three days.

It was, Anakin thought, truly paradise.

Padmé had her fingers linked with his as they looked up at the clear Naboo sky. They had finished their picnic meal an hour before and had indulged in some very rare time alone, no servants, no droids, nothing and no one around them except the lush green of the field and a small herd of shaak in the distance.

Her voice was slightly drowsy when she said softly, "Do you think you'll still love me in fifty years?"

Anakin laughed and brought her fingers up to his lips, where he nibbled lightly. "That's a silly question," he told her, still smirking up at the sky. He could not remember the last time he had felt so relaxed and at peace with himself.

"I'm serious." Padmé rolled on her side and leaned up on her elbow, looking down on him with a solemn expression in her dark eyes. "Do you think you'll still love me –just as much as you do now – when we've been married fifty years?"

The amusement fled his face and he propped up on his arm as well so that they were eye-to-eye. "No…" he said carefully. "I don't think I will."

Her mouth agape, she stared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

His lips quirking, he shrugged. "Well, you wanted an honest answer, didn't you?"

"Yes, but…really…" she sputtered and started to sit up, only to be stopped by the tender touch of his hand on her shoulder.

"Shouldn't ask a question you don't want answered," he muttered under his breath. She actually squealed in fury and astonishment. "I mean it's only natural if things should…calm down a bit. If you're with the same person for so long-"

Anakin tried very hard to maintain his serious expression but the look of indignant outrage on her face was his undoing. He burst out laughing and shook his head as he gathered her into his arms. "You're just too easy," he murmured as he buried his face in her hair.

Padmé remained stiff in his embrace, her anger still radiating off of her while he changed his tactics and moved to taste her throat. Trying to push him away proved to be of no avail.

"Anakin…" she hissed in a low warning.

He laughed softly once more and pulled back just enough to gaze into her eyes. Then he surprised her by gently tweaking her nose. "You take everything so seriously," he observed with a teasing glint in his eyes. Tilting his head, he studied her carefully. "Do you know that?"

She glared at him for a moment but was unable to resist the charm of his smile or the desire she saw lurking in his blue eyes. "And you don't take anything seriously," she pointed out, a reluctant smile tugging at her lips. "So I guess that means we're a good match."

"We were meant to be together," he whispered huskily, the words as much a vow as the ones they had exchanged on their marriage day. "Forever."

"Anakin," she breathed and leaned in for a kiss. The touch of his warm lips on hers made her groan and clutch at him, desire causing her head to spin and her limbs to tremble. Anakin felt her response and it made him moan in return as he pressed her to him, the distant thunder of the waterfalls no match for the roar of his blood.

At last, he collapsed back on the blanket, throwing his arms wide and growling low in his throat. The sound caused Padmé to giggle and he glanced up at her with a rueful smile. "Keep that up, milady, and we'll be doing things on this blanket that would create quite the juicy scandal," he warned honestly. "You're killing me, you know that right?"

Padmé shrieked and threw herself down on him, prompting a grunt from him as she made impact. She sighed contentedly, resting her head on his chest. "You love it," she assured him.

Anakin sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "Force help me, but I do," he admitted. "I keep coming back for more, don't I?"

"Every chance you get," she agreed and snuggled up close to him.

They lay there for a while, silent and content to be in each other's arms, knowing that, for a few days at least, they could just be Anakin and Padmé, not Jedi and senator. Such moments were rare and fleeting and so they treasured them.

"I wasn't lying you know," Anakin murmured suddenly.

"About what?" Padmé asked sleepily, her eyes closed as she adjusted to a more comfortable position on his hard chest. "You smell good," she observed quietly, changing the topic.

"Thank you," Anakin answered dryly. Then he poked her in her ribs but she didn't budge. "I wasn't lying about not loving you as much as I do now."

She opened one eye to peer up at him, too drowsy to be moved to anger any longer. "Really?" she asked without concern. "That's nice." And her eyes closed once more.

He laughed and kissed the crown of her head. "Rather sure of yourself, aren't you?" he teased.

"We can argue about this later…after my nap," she mumbled and buried her face in his tunic, inhaling deeply. "You really do smell nice," she told him again.

"I think you like my soap rather than me," he muttered. "What is it with women and smelling nice?"

"It's better than stinking," she pointed out, her voice somewhat slurred as she tried to stay awake.

"Point taken," he conceded. "Do you know want to know why I won't love you as much in fifty years as I do now?"

"Sure, I'm dying to know," she said in a voice that was less than convincing. A yawn punctuated her words.

He nudged her up chin and she opened sleepy brown eyes to look at him. "Because I'll love you even more," he said and kissed her on her forehead.

"I like that plan," she whispered, moving up to kiss him. Then she leaned up and hovered over him, her hair brushing against his face and cascading over his chest. "So you promise you'll never fall out of love with me?" Her smile was sleepy and sensual at the same time.

"Padmé, I couldn't fall out of love with you even if I fell all the way to hell," he said softly.

~Hell~

He woke with a gasp, his lips still tingling as if her lips had just touched his. The day was so clear, so vivid in his memory. Struggling to calm his erratic heartbeat, he blinked in the darkness, briefly disoriented.

The sun had been strong that day, nothing like Tatooine, of course. It had been a gentle warmth that cradled them both and for just a moment he thought he was still there in that meadow, his beloved wife in his arms. To find himself in cool darkness was unexpected – and unwelcome. "Lights," he ordered and they flickered on at his command.

Lord Vader moved awkwardly and touched the button that opened his sleep pod and initiated the process of encasing him in his armored prison. As the last piece snapped into place, he shuddered with revulsion, and just that touch of panic that always overcame him in those first moments in the armor. Every single time it happened, and every day he suffered that momentary terror.

I couldn't fall out of love with you even if I fell all the way to hell.

His words had proven true; he had kept that vow at least. No matter what other promises he had broken, to that one he had been faithful.

I'm in hell, Padmé…and still I love you. Force help me, I'll always love you.