"This is a terrible idea."
Padmé rolls her eyes. "Ani, please. They're my parents. What are they going to do?"
Anakin glances around warily. Everything about this situation makes him nervous. The fact that Padmé isn't nervous makes him even more concerned. "They're going to recognize me. I'm the most wanted man in the galaxy."
"And you think they'd turn you in?" Padmé shoots him a withering look. "Goodness, Ani, if the statement weren't so ridiculous, if be offended!"
"Maybe not but they've met me before, Padmé," Anakin hisses. "Remember? When we were in Naboo? They're going to know I'm a Jedi. They'll know what we did and —"
She laughs. "Do you really think after everything that's happened that they'll be the least bit fussed that I broke the rules and married a Jedi? The Order no longer exists, Ani."
Anakin opens his mouth to protest, to remind Padmé of all the very good reasons why they have remained in isolation on Tattoine all these years, but is interrupted by the pattering of footsteps.
"Mum! Luke says I have to sit in the cabin with Shmi!" Leia whines, arms folded across her chest.
Padmé smiles wearily. The twins never seem to get tired if bickering with one another. "None of you should be sitting in the cockpit, sweetheart."
Leia smirks. "I'll go tell him."
"Let's tell him together," Padmé says quickly, recognizing the beginnings of another battle. She may no longer be a senator, but her diplomacy skills are needed now more than ever.
"You don't need to be afraid of them, Ani," she tosses over her shoulder. "They'll love you."
Naboo is cooler than he remembers. He's always found the champ chill gets under his skin, but bit seems even more noticeable now. Perhaps because he's spent so much time living on a desert planet.
Padmé's family are kind and welcoming. Jobal is so happy to see her daughter again - and grandchildren for the first time - she is in tears before even opening the door. Anakin has never been so warmly embraced by strangers before. It makes him feel a terrible sense of longing. He will never be able to introduce his mother to his family, will never be able to see the joy on her face as she meets her grandchildren for the first time.
By dinner, Anakin is beginning to relax. No one has said anything about him; they're all so focused on the children that he can stand on the sidelines virtually unnoticed. He finds himself wondering why he was ever worried in the first place.
"So, Ani, Padmé never mentioned what you do for a living."
Sola's question catches him off-guard and for a moment he can only stare at her blankly.
"I beg your pardon?" he stammers when he finally regains control of his faculties.
"I was just thinking, Padmé's never mentioned what you do."
"Oh." Anakin swallows. His throat is suddenly very dry. "I'm, er, work with ships. Repair work, mostly."
"Oh." Sola frowns, disappointed.
"Were you expecting something more exciting?" Padmé teases.
Her sister shrugs. "I only thought— You look familiar, that's all. Are you sure we've never met him before, Padmé?"
Anakin wonders if the rest of the table can hear his heartbeat. His wife, however, seems unruffled.
"I think Ani has an alter ego that travels the galaxy doing all sorts of wild things. You wouldn't believe how many people tell us they've met him before!"
Everyone laughs. Ruwee asks about Tatooine's economic infrastructure and the discussion moves on, Anakin's identity mercifully forgotten.
Anakin volunteers to put the children to bed, claiming that they'll wage war without storytime, but Padmé knows he's looking for a chance to escape. She doesn't understand why he's so nervous about meeting her family—it certainly isn't that ridiculous nonsense about the price on his head. Maybe he feels he doesn't deserve her—which is ridiculous—or that they won't like him—which is also ridiculous—but she thinks it stems more from his lack of proper family as a child. He's afraid he won't fit in, afraid to contaminate her perfect, loving family with his dark, damaged past. As if any of them care about that.
Exhausted from the journey, Padmé excuses herself not long after her husband. She hasn't even made it to the stair when Jobal calls her back.
"I know this may sound silly, dear," she says softly, "but you do know we would never say anything about Ani."
Padmé swallows. She should have known her mother would catch on; Anakin's appearance hasn't changed that much in the last twenty years and Jobal has always been highly perceptive. "I know. And so does he."
"Regardless of whether he's done all those things or he hasn't, he's a good man and a wonderful father." Jobal smiles. "I'd say he's a man worth breaking the rules for."
Padmé blushes. She's never been ashamed of her illegal marriage, but she's never discussed it with her parents, either. "Mom—"
Jobal smiles. "You followed your heart even when everyone was telling you not to. And I'm proud of you for that."
"Well, it wasn't like I ever had a choice," Padmé says softly. From the moment she and Anakin met, she knew he was going to change her life.
Her mother laughs. "That's not what you were saying when you two first came here. If I remember correctly, you made a point of saying there was nothing going on between you two."
Again, Padmé blushes. "There wasn't!" she protests. "Not at that time, anyway."
"You can never resist true love," Jobal replies. "Or a beautiful man."
Padme shrieks and swats at her mother.
Secretly, she agrees.