6 months later, Malevolence

Supreme Commander Anakin Skywalker stormed through the halls of the Malevolence in search of his wife, Senator Padmé Skywalker, at this moment he seethed with rage at his commanding chief, Chancellor Palpatine. Being a military man for the last few months has given him different ways of reading people the Jedi wouldn't think to use, a Jedi would read one's mind to grasp their target's intent, Military personnel would carefully analyse a person, physically and mentally, body language, tone of voice, the look of one's eyes, hell even the way someone walked could give someone away. Anakin had seen the video of Palpatine going to chat to Dooku when he accepted the role of Supreme Commander, there was a very well-hidden camera in the cell that no one but him and the clones who installed it knew about, he had done this because of the welcoming he had received by Palpatine. Fair enough, he'd dismembered and captured a powerful Lord of the Sith, that deserves praise but it went a little overboard in his head, he knows that his boss is the Lord of the Sith, he just doesn't know what to do because of the lack of proof, prison cameras and footage being deleted and wiped everyday was something he made a mental note to ask for that to stop, there was a small tug on his cape and so he stopped, turned to see his young student Ahsoka Tano, pointing up at a small platform, Padmé was on it fighting the droids with her blasters while 3PO still complained, Anakin rolled his eyes briefly at that.

"You see her right Snips?" he asked, this got a nod, "Then jump!" he shouted, both jumped up to Padmé's location and ignited their lightsabers, Ahsoka with a light emerald, almost white, Anakin was wielding an amethyst blade he had built after leaving the Jedi behind, it was darker than Mace Windu's blade though and looked to be a black and purple when used, they fought off the droids before jumping to the same location the droids had come from to catch their breath and hopefully find R2 and a shuttle to get off the mechanical hell hole, Padmé holstered her blasters and ran into Anakin's waiting arms, jumping up a little to kiss him passionately.

"Oh Ani, I fear you might be correct to say the Chancellor is behind this, what do we do and how do we prove it?" Padmé asked frantically, Anakin tightened his hold on her.

"Love, remain calm, there are ways to prove treachery from within and we simply wait for an opportunity where Sidious messes up in his schemes," he replied soothingly, Padmé looked up at him.

"You believe he will mess up?" she asked, he nodded confidently.

"I know he will, just give it some time, wasn't it you who taught me patience?" he teased, Padmé smacked his arm playfully.

"Well, it would be first to see you use said patience," she jabbed back, he smiled at her before it faded, and his eyes hardened to ice. Padmé knew that face was his Supreme Commander face, she had her Senator face and he had his Commander face and she pulled out of his arms, watching him point a gloved finger at Ahsoka.

"General Tano, get over here!" Anakin briskly ordered, Ahsoka hurriedly obeyed as they all strode through the base, they found R2 along the way and made it clear of the nearly destroyed Malevolence, heading for Anakin's own flagship, the Resolute. There was a grand welcoming for their Commander, Anakin strode down first, an aging Admiral approached him.

"Sir! Thank the force, we feared the worst for a while," Wulf Yularen greeted in relief.

"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Admiral, see to it that the men are working optimally on the bridge and make sure they understand the importance of their duties, like always. Also, make sure the build-up to what should be Galactic Republic Spy Network is still functioning strong, the Separatists have spies of their own, but that doesn't mean we can't either, I want them fully trained within the next year." Anakin ordered, ice blue eyes wandering around the hangar critically, before his eyes softened and landed on the Admiral, who saluted and went to go but Anakin grabbed him by the arm and added, "Also please confirm that everyone is sober now, I don't want my troops and officers lying face down on the bridge and smelling like whisky," Yularen smiled, "Yes sir," he said as he nodded to both the Senator and Ahsoka before walking off, Anakin motioned a trooper over.

"Boil escort the droids to the engineers, they may have been damaged and need repairs," Anakin instructed, Boil saluted and motioned for R2 and 3PO to follow, so they did, Anakin sighed.

"We have to report to the Chancellor now," he said tiredly, Padmé and Ahsoka groaned.

"We aren't looking forward to it either darling, but please try to keep up during the meeting," Padmé advised him, he nodded.

"I'll try," Anakin mumbled, she smiled.

"Don't worry, we will be there with you," she soothed, Anakin nodded, that was true, he offered Padmé his arm and she accepted it, walking to the communications room with Ahsoka and Padmé by his side, they arrived to the room to see Captain Rex, leader of the 501st legion of clone troopers communicating with Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi. Anakin noticed this and cleared his throat, causing both to stop and look up at him.

"Sir!" Rex saluted him, Anakin saluted back.

"At ease Captain, and you Obi Wan, are you ready to contact the Chancellor?" Anakin asked, both nodded, he then opened up a communication with Chancellor Palpatine to see the old man himself materialize in a blue hologram, even now though Anakin could see the false concern in his eyes and feel his barely contained annoyance at Padmé's survival, his icy blue eyes met Palpatine's own fake concerned eyes and bowed.

"Sir," Anakin greeted calmly yet coldly, Palpatine noticed the glacially cold tone and narrowed his eyes.

"You seem annoyed General Skywalker, care to elaborate?" Palpatine asked, Anakin's eyes narrowed.

"Why was Senator Skywalker's ship even in this battle?" Anakin demanded, Palpatine feigned indignation and hid his true shock at being called out this way, only Skywalker could be so bold.

"Are you implying I deliberately sent Senator Skywalker into a battle?" he asked indignantly, Anakin shook his head.

"No, but I find it remarkably convenient that as soon as the Separatists plan to use their tractor beam, her ship comes out of hyperspace and into their trap," he remarked coolly, Palpatine leaned forward, meeting Anakin's gaze.

"You are implying there could be a traitor feeding information to the Separatists?" he asked, deadly serious, Anakin slowly nodded.

"The pieces fit, the timing is too coincidental and accurate to be a setback on the Senator's part, and I'd suggest keeping old footage of prisoners in our prisons saved and archived, it makes finding potential traitors easier due to them breaking out Separatist officials," Anakin suggested, Palpatine's eyes narrowed further.

"That is a very true statement, we will discuss more on this once you return, the Senator is safe though?" he asked smoothly, changing the subject, Anakin nodded.

"She is safe and, on my flagship," Anakin said, Palpatine smiled.

"Do return safely then gentlemen, milady," he replied before cutting the transmission, Anakin sighed and allowed himself to relax, Padmé approached him and took his arm, dragging him away from the room, Obi Wan sighed deeply.

"He's changed a lot since the war began," Obi Wan observed sombrely, Rex nodded.

"He has, but can you blame him? The war is keeping him from his wife and time with her, time where he could be potentially starting a family, and though he hides it well, he's not happy with the Chancellor," Rex stated, Obi Wan frowned.

"You think he wants a family?" he asked, Rex nodded.

"I know he does; didn't he ever mention the desires he had for a family within the Jedi Order or to you?" Rex asked in confusion, Obi Wan smiled sadly.

"Had he trusted me that much I think we would be in better position with our friendship, as he is now though this war will end by his blade and no other, if I ever was to have a son though, he'd be named Anakin, after his Uncle, I don't know where he sits with me though because I have hardly spoken to him in the last 6 months, he's been a fighter for months and I think this is only the beginning of his trouble," Obi Wan explained sadly, Rex nodded in agreement, before heading to his quarters, something was telling him to be there for his General whenever and Rex would be damned if he wasn't there for him, for despite his cold demeanour at points, Rex had a bond with Anakin Skywalker and wanted him to survive this war, not professionally, but as a friend.

Anakin's quarters sometime later

Anakin had just finished his shower, after drying himself off and putting on some black pyjama trousers, he went to the mirror to see his reflection, standing in front of him was a man he didn't think he'd ever see, Anakin Skywalker the military man. His dark blonde hair was nearly down to his shoulders but usually was combed back into something akin to a military style cut on the battlefield, his muscular physique had only been amplified by the war and he himself had a few more scars on his body, none present on his face, Anakin didn't care though, he shook his head and went to the bedroom to his darling wife standing at the viewport, arms clasped behind her back similar to what he did on the bridge. Anakin slowly approached her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, Padmé relaxed in his arms and turned to see his smile, she wrapped her own arms around his neck, kissing him softly.

"I worry for you Ani," she whispered softly, Anakin smiled.

"I know you do love, I know but it was you who encouraged me to take the position remember?" he replied, referring to the conversation he had with her just after the Chancellor offered it to him, Padmé sighed.

"I know, but still I can't help feeling like this war is taking something from us, it's taking time, our family time, I want a baby, but I don't know when the right time is," Padmé said sadly, Anakin looked surprised.

"I didn't know you wanted a child, you never really mentioned it," Anakin said, Padmé looked at him seriously.

"I always have, but I don't know if you want one, do you?" she asked seriously, Anakin nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, I always had fantasies of a big family when I was younger, now is our chance to realize that," Anakin spoke softly, but with clear passion, Padmé smiled up at him.

"Well, at least we know Young Skywalker will be someone else instead of you, I know you hate that name for how berating it seems," she teased, Anakin laughed.

"Oh come on, it is berating and you know it, Young Skywalker," he jabbed back, he spoke the last two words imitating Yoda, Padmé giggled and kissed him passionately, he eagerly kissed her back and both felt desire coursing through them, Anakin swept her into his arms and carried her to bed, their passion consuming them whole.

Later

"Oh Ani, that was wonderful," Padmé whispered, smiling and still in her husband's arms, Anakin smiled wolfishly.

"Wonderful huh? Would you object if I did it again?" he asked, Padmé smiled and shook her head, moaning as his lips trailed down her neck, as they made love many times more.

11 AM, the next morning

Ahsoka Tano was seriously unnerved, her Commander and Master was usually an early riser and was awake far earlier than anyone on the ship. Now though, she hadn't seen him anywhere and it seemed she was the only one who had noticed this most peculiar absence, she was about to go searching when a hand clapped down on her shoulder, she turned to see Senator Padmé Skywalker smiling at her.

"You like you've seen a ghost Snips," Padmé teased, Ahsoka regained her composure.

"I haven't seen my Master anywhere; can you blame me?" she asked, Padmé shook her head, still smiling.

"No, I don't and don't worry, he's making coffee for himself and tea for me, we need it badly," Padmé said, she pointed to where Anakin was, sure enough he was there making the coffee and tea respectively, the kettle finished, and he began with the drinks themselves. Anakin finished with the drinks, set the mugs onto a tray and brought them over to her, he took the black coffee and she took the tea from him, they had come out of hyperspace and were approaching the landing area Star Destroyers used, the silence suddenly went from warm and comfortable to brittle and tense when Chancellor Palpatine approached slowly. Padmé noticed her husband tense, his leather clad hands becoming fists and his expression hardening into glacial temperatures, this unnerved her at points, but she didn't think anything of it as it was him steeling himself for empty flattery, like she did whenever she met him in the Senate.

"Sir, good to see you again," Anakin said evenly, saluting politely, Palpatine returned the salute and noticed the others around his Supreme Commander. Sidious was inwardly very angry at Anakin Skywalker, someone he thought could be malleable to the way of the Sith, evidently not, his aggressiveness on the battlefield towards his enemies was infamous but to his allies, he was calm, cool, authoritative, the perfect Commander he thought in irritation, but he still maintained a decent relationship with the Jedi Order, most of them anyway.

"Anakin, it is good to see you as well, and you Senator Skywalker, it appears you have returned safely," he said politely, Padmé nodded.

"I have, my husband and General Kenobi saved me, and General Kenobi briefly subdued Grievous, injuring him in the process," she replied calmly, Palpatine's eyes flickered to Obi Wan Kenobi briefly, surprised, this was troubling.

"Oh, please milady it was just my duty," Obi Wan said modestly, Anakin strode over to him and clapped a hand down on his shoulder.

"Obi Wan, cut the modesty, had it not been for you subduing Grievous we may not have got out of there, me and Ahsoka took the droids sure but Grievous is another beast entirely, you deserve the credit," Anakin told him firmly, Obi Wan smiled.

"If you say so Anakin," he replied, smiling, Anakin smiled back, Chancellor Palpatine smiled before clearing his throat.

"Generals Skywalker and Kenobi, you are on leave now, both of you are on a 5 week leave, after that you will both go too Dantooine to take the planet back from the Separatists, their minerals are vital and they have possession of a new weapon that has held Dantooine in their tyranny," he stated grimly, both men nodded.

"Yes sir," they said, Palpatine smiled at them, bowed politely to Padmé and walked off, leaving all present with a sense of growing dread.