Title: That Out a Maid Never Departed More
Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala
Pairing: Anakin/Padmé
Timeframe: End of AOTC.
Padmé is examining his hand, the new, shiny, metal one. Anakin had feared that it would repulse her, but he was wrong. It fascinates her, that this appendage of machinery can be just as much a part of him now as the flesh and blood of the other.
"We're married, aren't we?"
She looks up. She does not understand, that much is clear. Anakin weaves his cybernetic fingers through her flesh ones, and looks for the words to explain. That has never been terribly difficult for him.
"Marriage on Tatooine isn't the same," he says. "We don't have ceremonies. Nothing official. We aren't allowed." (and he trusts that she knows what he means by we) "But when you survive something together, something like that… you just know."
He hasn't spoken of what happened at the Tusken camp since they left the planet. Padmé doubts he'll ever mention it again after this. But somehow the pieces click into place and she knows he's right. Come what may, everything has changed and they are bound to each other now. Nothing will ever be the same.