I'm spoiling y'all with these quickie updates. But with all the WONDERFUL review's I've been getting (and at the perfect times of brain blockage) this story just keeps writing itself.
As usual, adult content lies ahead, so venture softly all ye who(m) dare enter!
They walked through the halls of the Senate, conversing softly. From the outside, they looked every bit the couple in love that they were. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, hers around his waist, tucked into his side.
They were walking to the speeder when Anakin stopped suddenly, "What?"
"Padmé. DUCK!" She dropped and he pulled out his lightsaber. He bounced three red flashes back at their attacker and the figure dropped. He leapt over in a single bound and pressed his foot to the assailant's cheek.
"Who sent you." He sorely wished for his armor, for his utility belt that held numerous binders. "You, Clone." He pointed across the way to a wayward guard, "Get me some binders." He looked back down at the man who attacked his wife. "Who. Sent. You. I am not a patient man, and I do not like repeating myself."
He lifted his head to look at Anakin, digging a pill out of his tooth, "Long. Live. The Emper…" he began seizing and convulsing.
He was dead within moments. The clone rushed back with Binders and was waved off as Anakin rushed back to Padmé. "Are you alright?"
"Why do they hate me?" she said, "why?"
"I don't know my love. But I'm calling your Doctor."
"Ani I'm fine I-" but one look at his face told her enough. She would be going whether she wanted to or not. "Ok."
xXx
Doctor Pinea ushered Anakin and Padmé into the room. "You said she was attacked."
Anakin nodded. Formerly, he had been annoyed by the vaulted Doctor, but not now. Not when he needed the best Doctor on the capital. "She's be excessively stressed lately." Anakin volunteered. The Doctor looked from Padmé who was quietly sitting on the chair to the anxious Jedi pacing the room.
"Well? Aren't you going to examine her?" Anakin barked.
"Why don't you wait outside. Go contact Obi Wan." Anakin frowned, "I'm fine I-"
"If you say your fine one more time.." His eyes clenched and she sighed. He was doing what he thought was right, she couldn't fault him for that.
"I may not be fine, but I'm safe here." He hesitated until she gave a no so subtle look. "Go."
"Ok, ok." He stepped out of the room and the good Doctor smiled. "Most of the time it's endearing, but lately he's become smothering."
"You must be very proud of him Milady."
A broad smile stretched across her face. "He's been saving me for more than ten years." Pinea was a man who felt that he understood love. But looking at the woman whose eyes were full of worry and love, he felt far younger than his fifty years would otherwise declare.
"Well, let's get down to it."
Outside, Anakin was wringing his hands and pacing. He could feel the young secretary watching him, but he ignored her. He had tried to sit and meditate, but that had proven more useless now than ever, he had contacted Obi Wan who had already heard of the attack and would have come, but Anakin brushed him away. He would care for his family.
".. I do have one favour to ask you." He asked.
"Anything Anakin."
"I need to know who this Emperor is. The assassin was very poor quality, they must not have expected me to be there, but the devotion it takes for them to take their own life.."
"Not a contract.. it was a follower."
"My thinking exactly. Got any of those seedy acquaintances you could ask."
"My associates are not seedy." Anakin didn't say anything, and he heard a chuckle on the other side, "ok, maybe a few of them are. I'll see what I can do Anakin."
"I realise that you have orders from the Council but-"
"Senator Skywalker deserves the entire Jedi's allegiance for her kind words. She may be obligated because of you, but her and I have known each other just as long."
Anakin couldn't help but laugh, "No making moves on my Wife Master Jedi."
"The wife of the Chosen One? I wouldn't dream of it." His voice grew serious, "She's strong Anakin, she'll be fine."
"I hate that word." He grumbled. "Come by the apartment sometime, she'd love to see you."
"I'll call first," he said lightly, "Kenobi out." He resumed wringing his hands and pacing. The pretty young woman behind the desk went un noticed by Anakin, though he did not go unnoticed by her.
His rebellious golden curls, brilliant blue eye, and tall hard body would have made him stand out, even if he were the Jedi's acclaimed Chosen One. "Is there anything I can get you, Sir?"
He shook his head and continued to pace, "Anything at all." She cooed. He looked at her like she had sudden sprouted an arm out of her face.
"I'm waiting for my wife." He blocked her whiny voice out and reached out to the inner room. He felt Padmé's strong presence and her deep well of calm. Guiltily, he drew on her strength to calm his own frayed nerves. He felt her ease and slowly came back to the room where he was, jumping slightly at the woman before him.
"Would you like that baby?" she whispered and he staggered back.
"I-.. ah.. I um.."
"Anakin?" he heard her melodic voice as the door opened and he rushed to her.
"Padmé!" He bent and kissed her cheek, "Well Doctor?"
"She is in fine form. Her blood pressure is a mite high, but I would expect nothing less."
"So, the attack-"
"Left no lingering issues. From as far as I can tell, those babies are in for the long haul."
Anakin clapped the man on the shoulder, "I cannot thank you enough for coming in after hours. You have my undying gratitude." He bowed to the man. The Doctor froze for a moment, the words from the Jedi Knight touching him.
"You are most welcome, Jedi Skywalker." He said graciously, "Good evening to the two of you."
"Good Evening Doctor."
"Bye." The vile woman said and Anakin shied away, while Padmé smiled and gave her a finger wave. Anakin saw the contemptuous look she gave her and his own turned cold and snarling.
The pretty young secretary caught a glimpse of the dark look and her own lust vanished and fear settled in its place. This is a man that would kill. This is a man who would go to any length to protect what was his. And this was a man who was more dangerous than any she had ever met.
It's safer with the dumb ones, she shuddered.
xXx
Nightmare's still plagued him. The memories of his former life still haunted him, and the worries of his current life still hung in the air like a foul odor.
She shifted and a muffled moan raced across his skin, bringing him from his mind and to the present. Miles and miles of warm skin was pressed against him. She was silky softness and smooth hardness, her hair smelt of roses and sunshine and the quiet sigh that escaped from her parted lips had such an effect on him.
It was late and Anakin was holding her to his chest, her breath was warm against his neck, her hair tickling her nose. He refused to sleep, his own worries, his own concerns manifesting themselves into angry shadows in the night. The attack left him more startled then her.
Despite the angry words of the press, the public adored the match. The happy couple appeared many times as the newest trend. The beautiful duo had tales of romance and love written about them, the star crossed lovers were accepted by the common citizen who was glad the Jedi was relaxing its once stuffy image. The young vibrant man had changed the face of all Jedi.
While some criticized them, he never dreamed that they would be attacked. Which was why the dying words of the assassin meant so much. If it wasn't a spiteful fan, it had to be a faction of the Separatist's. Obi Wan worked well in the underbelly, Anakin was far too well noticeable in the Capital, but Obi Wan had a knack of being able to disappear.
A furrowed crease grew between her eyes and he stroked it away with his fingertips. He ease away from her gently and slipped out of the room, his mind full. He needed to do something, he needed to fix something.
Padding down the hall way he sat on the chair in the corner of the room and started putting his new lightsaber together. He always liked to have a back up one, with his track record, it had proven a useful policy.
He tried to distract himself, with something else, anything else that would pull his mind from the worry of his present situation. And it fell on the obscure interaction with the secretary at the Doctor's office earlier.
He had never noticed women before, other than Padmé. If she hadn't existed, he would have never betrayed the Jedi's mandate, but if she hadn't existed, he would still be stuck on the dusty rock making some slave driver money. He had become accustom to these types of confrontations with women, but he had never took enjoyment in them. They use to make him miss Padmé more, now all they did was deepen his concern for her.
She had been in a deep and happy sleep, Anakin's arms always tempering the storm insider her, but she felt the wisps of cold air shudder around her and she opened her eyes and found herself alone. Her hand on the spot where he had been. She felt the warm sheets and she knew he hadn't been gone long. The cozy bed was warm and yet it was missing something. She slipped out of their bed and padded down the hall, past Dormé's room and to the large open living room.
"Ani?" She saw the tension in his shoulders as he was twisting and screwing what was to be another beautiful Lightsaber. "What modifications have you put on this one?" She asked, and was pleased to see the tension relax slightly.
"The alloy I saw on Cato Neimoidia should have been too weak to support the structure, and yet it withstood our blasts. It's light and durable, yet as strong and tensile as Durasteel." He showed her the clean and elegant lines of the new shell.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "It's beautiful Anakin, now, what's wrong."
"Nothing." He said, far too quickly.
She nipped at his earlobe and her hands started kneading his shoulders and he groaned in appreciation, "Tell me Anakin."
He said nothing and she continued, the muscles visibly quivering beneath her adept hands. He moaned again, deeper, "I'm worried." She kneaded a particularly stubborn knot and he slumped forward, his hands forgetting the lightsaber.
"That wasn't so hard.. Worried about me?" He nodded and leaned into her hands, his mind drawing blanks as to his former concerns.
"Y-yes.." he hissed, and he felt her mouth on his cheek and move down his jaw line, "You're trying to distract me, My love."
"Is it working?" She nuzzled his neck and her hands moved from his back to his chest and her nails scrapped gently against his pectorals.
"Absolutely." He stood and turned around, her shimmering presence a beacon to him. He wanted to scoop her up and ravish her until the sun rose, he wanted to retraced her ever growing body, relearn every line. But the memory of her body on the floor of the senate jumped back in his eyes, and he turned away.
"No – no –no .. Don't shut me out."
"You were attacked Padmé."
"I've been shot at since I was fourteen."
"You weren't pregnant with my children then." He said, his anger getting the better of him. She felt her own anger flair and she stepped away from him.
"No, I wasn't, but what does that have to do with my experience."
"You are going to be a Mother, Padmé. You are responsible for their lives too."
Her jaw dropped and she couldn't stop herself, "How dare you accuse me of not caring, how DARE you." The bile that rose in her throat was shoved away, her body vibrating in anger.
His face was still dark, and she saw the warm and pliant man gone. "I understand you're worried, I know your scared, but being scared alone is dangerous Ani." She said, trying to temper her rage. "Especially for you. You get so wrapped up in your head, you forget about the rest of us."
"I do not-"
"Yes.. You do. You've been awake all night worried, and said nothing. You've been out here trying to distract yourself rather than face what is actually scaring you."
"I'm not scared, I'm concerned."
"Right, because Jedi don't fear anything." She rolled her eyes and took a calming breath, "fine, be angry, be concerned.. and do it alone. I'm going back to bed. Don't even THINK about coming with me." She said hotly, and spun on her heels and stormed off.
He immediately felt guilty for his words. They had gone through so much together and yet, he still was terrified of letting her in. He was scared that she wouldn't like what she found in the deep, dark corners of his soul. And he felt his heart ache as he watched her figure disappear down the hall. All he ever did was hurt her. All he ever caused was more pain, more anger.
Though, to have her angry, he could handle. But if she ever rejected him, he would most certainly die.
xXx
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon when she felt the warm body cuddled up close from behind her. "I'm sorry angel, I'm so sorry." She reached for his hand and pulled it around her, holding it tight. She kissed to cool metal palm and snuggled deeper into his arms.
She was tired, not sleeping well while he had been off pouting. Her emotions were high and as she relaxed into him, she felt the tears start to fall. Rolling over she buried her face in his chest, her tears falling on his golden skin.
He felt his heart breaking as she cried on him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He knew no apology was great enough to suffice for the damage he caused. All he could do was hold her and pray she had the strength to forgive him. Again. "I'm not scared Angel," he said hoarsely, "I'm terrified. Losing you, it would kill me. I would surely die of a broken heart if something happened to you. And every time you're injured, every time I fail to protect you, it proves to me how much I don't deserve you. You should be worship as the Queen you are, you should be showered in gifts and trinkets. You should be pampered, and alas, I can do nothing but love you with my entire being. I can't do anything but need you for all of my existence. And you deserve better."
"All I need is you Ani." She said, swallowing back the bile, the fear and the sorrow, "This Galaxy, the Jedi, me, we all take from you. All we ever do is take." Her tear soaked face looked up at him and she gave him a watery smile. "It is you that should be worshipped. Should be cared for." She kissed his shoulder where the mark of the Force Pike sneered at her. He had stepped in front of the weapon, protecting her. Another burn where he had been thrown on hot coals because he refused to tell the enemy her location. A long rugged scar from where an assassin had cut him because he had been distracted by her. A blaster mark on his shoulder from carrying her to safety. All the marks had been because of her. Because somehow, in some way, she had almost been the cause of his death or further disablement.
"We are truly doomed." He mused, and kissed her. He tried to prove to her the depth of his emotion in that one kiss. His need, his desire, his passion, his affection.
The Force bowed to this woman, because he made her important, because he had chosen her. He may be the one to destroy the Sith, but if joining them was what she needed, what she wanted, he would defy the Jedi and do it.
He would do anything needed, for her.
He traced her puffy face with the back of his cool alloy knuckle a soft look in his eye that had quickly grown infectious to her face was well. She dropped her head and kissed her way up his shoulder, across his throat and she nuzzled the soft whiskers. Once and a while, she imagined what her Jedi Warrior would look with a beard like Obi Wan's, the soft blond hair that grew there was scratchy and sparse. "I know, I need to shave."
She murmured a neutral response and she felt his flesh hand trace the curve of her back. She let her instincts and her heart lead her in the path they chose and it led her lips to press soft kisses across his permanently knit brow, "You are never going to lose me Anakin. In life and in death I will be forever yours."
"Don't talk about death Padmé." He flipped her over and his eyes grew cold as she stared up into the crystal orbs. "Don't ever say that."
"Anakin, eventually, someday, I will die. Maybe in four years or forty years, it will happen." She looked up and cupped his face, "It is a fact of all mortals. You too won't last forever. But we will live on," she guided his hand to the small hard bump, "We will live on in them. In their children, and in their children's children. You may lose me Anakin, I may lose you. But time will not be able to erase us."
Tears sprung to his eyes. The Jedi had always taught him that death was a natural part of life, to embrace death, and the possibility of death. The ideal had always been his hardest to understand.
But the beautiful words of his wife, both naked and lying in their marriage bed, staring into each other's eyes, he finally understood. He finally accepted it. If she died, it would destroy him, but as he would want her to live on, she wanted him to accept the possibility of living after her. A concept that still remained painful.
"Promise me Anakin. Swear to me that you will live on if something happens to me."
"I-.. I don't know.."
She pulled his face down to her and kissed him aggressively, "Swear it Anakin."
"I will if you do."
"Deal."
"Deal." He smiled wickedly, and nuzzled the long elegant lines of her collar bone, his lips trailing a damp line down between the valley of her breasts, the perfect belly button from where she started, and the hardness between her hips where their children were starting. He gently rubbed his whiskery cheek against her hipbone, leaving a slight red chafe mark. He kissed it better and continued his exploration. It had been days since he last really looked at her, and now, her eyes were clenched shut in expectation, in want, in need and he felt his control battle his desire.
He continued onwards, the damp trail his lips left paled in comparison to the moisture that had already collected between her legs. This is where he belongs for the rest of his life, he thought as he kissed her inner thigh and his nose parted the saturated folds. His unrelenting tongue pulled from her sounds of both ecstasy and agony. Pleas of 'don't you dare stop' and 'please-no-more-I-love-you-please-stop-DON'T' resonance through the room, and he smiled as her hands pulled his hair and shoulders, needing him to continue the torture. His lips found the knotted bud and the scream that came from her throat as he latched on made his love soar.
His sole job in the universe was to love Padmé Amidala Skywalker till she took her final breaths, whether he took them alongside her as a grey old man, surrounded by their grandchildren, or a young man weeping in agony as he would if she was taken from him too soon.
But he had promised, as had she, that they would live on after each other. He knew he would never find another love like her, nor would he want to, but he would not follow her into the dark. He would stay and as much as it would hurt, he would carry on as best he could.
No woman could match her. Never. That pitiful excuse for a female in the Doctor's office didn't even cross his mind as her legs wrapped around his head and held him tight as he continued to drive her to the brink of the abyss.
It wasn't long before her muscles were convulsing with the torment, her back arching at a near impossibly angle. "Pl-ple-.. Please.." she sobbed. He smiled as she continued to beg, her hands marring his already scarred back, her legs shaking and trembling.
With a single nip, he sent her over the edge. "I love you." He whispered. "More than my own life." He stayed with her and rode out the shattering release. After a what seemed an eternity, her legs slumped to the side and her arms fell away, her body completely open and a uniquely soft and feminine look in her eye.
He crawl up, kissing her shoulder, her arms moved barely enough to pull his long warm body to her own. "As long as there is breath in my body Anakin I will fight for you."
"As long as my heart still beats, it will only beat for you." He said, his face buried in her long perfumed locks.
"Pretty." She mumbled, her hand tangled in his own hair. He stole a glance saw her staring at him. "You always had pretty words to say."
"I like to think you were.. affected. At least, as affected as I."
The hunger crawled back into her face, "Anakin, I was affected to moment you walked into my chambers and told me I had grown more beautiful."
"Good to know." His smile stretched across his face. She wanted to wipe the egotistical look away, but the aftershocks of her last orgasm were far too powerful for her body to allow such movement.
"Do you want more?" he asked, softly caressing her stomach, the soft flesh hand trailing a finger down the zig zag line that his mouth had made minutes before, his long legs intertwined with hers, and his other arm propping his head up
"If anyone could get pregnant while already with child, it would be us." She mused, and he gave her a curious look.
"I meant later, after them."
She attempted a shrug and was pleased when her body responded, "depends on these two. They may keep us busy enough. But later, after. Who knows."
He smirked. "Depends on these two? Are you expecting them to be hellions?"
"Anything less for your children Anakin would be a gift from the Force." He laughed her favourite laugh. The laugh that held no darkness, that held no anger or fear. It was the same one she had heard when he had been a precocious Padawan in a meadow teasing her. It was his Happy laugh, the one that told her all was right in the world of Anakin Skywalker.
"Indeed, because I'm sure your parents would tell me you were every bit the Angel you are."
She was still sprawled on her back and she was studying the ceiling, "Maybe not an Angel, but definitely not a hellion." She bit her lower lip, "I was.. adventurous."
"I'm sure you were my love." He said, kissing her cheek. She smiled broadly and looked to Anakin, her hunger had returned with a vicious ferocity.
Instead of attacking him as she wanted, she leaned up and kissed his full lips with her own. Their tongues dancing and vying for possession. She was duly impressed that he had waited this long for her to recover, and her face stretched in a coy grin as she pulled him over top of her like a body shaped blanket, her already relaxed muscles allowing her far more flexibility than she would be otherwise capable. Hooking one leg high on his waist and her other pushed out to the side he eased into her so deeply she sighed with the feeling of utter satisfaction.
He too groaned at the sensation of her warm wet heat surrounding him, encompassing him with every bit of her. He withdrew almost completely and pushed back in, commencing his secondary bout of delicious torture of his wife. The pace he set was slow enough that between thrusts he leaned down and kissed her entire face, her furrowed brown, her clenched eyelids, her wrinkled nose, her soft cheeks.
They were not actively seeking the end this time, neither of them were in a hurry to open the flood gates on emotion and passion, rather they preferred to allow affection and love to wash between them like an ocean as they flowed together. The loving look in his eye never moving, the adoration in her eye shining back at him so potent if felt like a sunburn.
Eternity ensconced them in their own bubble, forever passing them like silk in the wind, but neither of them noticed wrapped in each other's arms. Perfection had never felt so right, and yet, he knew it couldn't last, but he threw that thought out.
Perfection would always be this moment. Making love to this woman of utter majesty in the early morning light, her arms wrapped around him, his face buried in her hair.
"So much." He said, tears springing to his eyes.
"I know." She said softly, "me too." Her voice held the notes of understanding that set him off. The slow became fast and demanding and over far too soon.
Perfection never stayed long, only long enough for a glimpse. But the brief glimpses the fates deemed him worthy of were far more than he would ever deserve.
xXx
The Emperor.
There hadn't ever been an Emperor on Coruscant, but among the stars there were many. King's, Queen's, Empresses and to match- Emperor's.
But as he studied the Jedi Archives, no leads led him to an omniscient Emperor. "Master Skywalker," a young Padawan said from beside him, Anakin looked at the small blond boy with startling blue eyes. "Master Yoda has summoned you."
"Thank you Padawan Forsyth." The child bowed and Anakin smiled at the sight of the little boy, images of his own son distracting him. Both his children would be so strong in the force, unless they were completely their mother's children, they would be more powerful than any Padawan that had entered the temple, save for him. Fear settled low in his stomach as the idea of the Jedi taking his children from him. He glanced back at the cheery boy helping another child reach a book far too high for either of them to reach, the Padawan floated it down using the Force, and then looked around quickly to see if he had been watched.
He caught Anakin's eye and he looked scared until Anakin smiled and winked at him. The boy giggled and handed the book to the other child.
Maybe an arrangement could be made, he would allow his children to be taught, but on his terms. He would not allow them to be taken from him as they had for so many centuries before. He cleared his area and saved the search on the datadisc that he slipped into his pocket and started the hike to the stuffy meditation room that Yoda would be found in.
His mind was full and he drew on the Force for calm, and peace. The great white aura that surrounded him, and had for his entire life, have been his true companion since he was a babe. He had never understood it, but his ability to use it had come almost naturally. He had always been able to draw on its strength and tranquility for any need. And the thought of teaching his children invigorated him.
"Master Yoda." He bowed when he finally reached the room.
"Young Skywalker. Come you did."
"I was summoned wasn't I?" he said cheekily.
Yoda chuckled, "Truth you speak. Sit, I ask." Anakin sat across from the diminutive Master and once again felt nine years old, scared and cold. "Search for an Emperor you do."
Anakin was surprised, but not blindsided. Little happened in the Temple without Yoda knowing. "Yes Master. The man who attempted to kill my wife spoke of one as his dying words."
"Sense the evil, you do."
"Yes Master. The darkness clouds much, but there is a source. And it is here on Coruscant."
"Know that, I did not. Sense that, I have not."
"I can't tell you how I know. I just.. Do." Anakin's brow furrowed in frustration as he attempted to look deep, he pushed away all the confusion and found the inky spot. "It's here. Somewhere. This Emperor is on Coruscant. And I'm beginning to think it's a code name for something."
"Find answers, Obi Wan will."
"What about Grievous?" Anakin said, concern filling him, "Padmé needs me.. I can't-"
"Send you, I will not. Fair your plea was, requesting a year."
Relief swelled within him, "Thank you." He whispered. "Sometimes I believe you and she share much more in common. She is far wiser than her years." He looked at Yoda's wise, curious eyes and Anakin smiled. "She made me swear that I would live on after her. Death.. has never been my friend, and yet it has been my constant companion."
"Natural your pain is, yet dangerous it could become."
Anakin nodded, "I'm beginning to realise that now. The more I shut myself out, the more footholds the darkness gains. It's hard though. So hard."
"Never stopped you before, failure has. A child, I recall, that mastered a lightsaber far sooner than he should have, you were."
Anakin smiled and blushed, "I was obstinate. And only wanted to prove myself."
"To us? Or yourself?" Yoda said and Anakin was floored. He looked out at the afternoon sun and frowned.
"Maybe both, maybe neither." It occurred to him that this was the first conversation he had with Yoda that didn't have him angered or further confused. He felt like Yoda was treating him as an equal, not as a reckless youth. "At first I wanted to honour Master Qui Gon's memory, but my thirst for knowledge soon over came it."
"Knowledge you sought, believe that, I do not. Power was your goal." Anakin's eyes flashed and Yoda held up a hand, "Encouraged this thinking you nor Master Kenobi did."
"It was the Chancellor." Anakin admitted, "He always encouraged me to be better than I was, become more than I am."
"Worried I am, from a politician, dark words they are."
"At the time, it was what I wanted to hear. But he has become so.. vile to Padmé and she doesn't see it. The more I sit with her in the Senate, the more darkness-" Anakin stopped mid thought. "The darkness is in the Senate."
Yoda looked truly surprised. "Impossible that is. See it we would."
Anakin felt weak, he felt sad and tired and old. The emotions of Yoda were feeling encompassed him, and in turn, he showed Yoda his corner of darkness. "It lingers inside me like a beast waiting to attack." Anakin admitted. He had never told anyone. He suspected Obi Wan knew, but no one, not even Padmé had ever seen it. The hidden dragon had grown but had been stunted the day he stood before the council. "I do not know how to eradicate it, only how to cage it."
Yoda said nothing, he saw the darkness and suddenly wanted to arm himself against it, the need to protect against such darkness that it took him several seconds to refocus. "Startling this is." He saw the dejected boy before him, he had just bared his soul, begging for help and Yoda's first thought had been to destroy him. Unacceptable. "Help you, I will." He proclaimed, "Strong you are to face such darkness and hold. But worried, this makes me."
"I feel it.. the darkness. It's everywhere, but the Senate is the origin of the abyss. I know it. I can feel it."
"Trust your judgment, I do young Skywalker. Meditate on this, I will."
Anakin moved to leave and felt compelled to ask, "About my children Master-.."
"Trained they will be. Strong they will be."
Fear clenched at him, "Please don't take my babies from me." Yoda had closed his eyes, but opened them to see the scared young man before them. "It would kill me, and it would break Padmé's heart. I don't think I could-.. If they looked at me and saw nothing, I would-.." He swallowed and turned away.
"Nine you were." Yoda said, and Anakin relaxed. "Too old, and far too wise you were."
"Not wise Master, never wise."
Yoda chuckled once again. "Death you have embraced, the Dark Side you are fighting, shown us- shown me you have of your strength of heart. Young Skywalker, strength of will can be shattered, strength of heart can never be broken."
"I know."
"Better far more than any Jedi. Know, you will, when your children are ready."
He felt the sudden urge to hug Yoda, to laugh joyously, to weep with happiness. "Thank you."
"Go now, leave me." Yoda said nonchalantly, the confusing ocean of emotions that he was feeling from Skywalker. The jubilation was invigorating and refreshing from the darkness. It seemed only Anakin Skywalker had the ability to cause the darkness to both flock and flee. He was, for the first time in almost nine hundred years, more confused than ever.
xXx
He met her on the balcony. She was arranging flowers and humming a tune. He noticed that she was walking a little stiffly and he sighed with both animalistic pride and loving concern. "Ani? Is that you?"
"Here," He said as he strode up to her. He kissed her cheek and tickled her as she giggled. "Good afternoon Senator Skywalker." She looped her arms around his neck and gave him a flawless smiled.
"Good afternoon General." She leaned up and kissed him sweetly. "I missed you this morning. I woke up and the bed was empty."
"I had some research to do. Did 3P0 not tell you?"
"Yes, that you were at the Temple." She nodded and he released her, wandering to the kitchen. "Dormé left you a plate." She followed him to the kitchen and sat at the informal table as he scrounged around.
He eyed the large full plate and smiled."I think I married the wrong woman," he mumbled and felt a small object hit his back.
"I heard that!" she yelled and he chuckled.
"Sorry love." He dropped next to her and offered her the large red berry on his plate. "Forgive me?"
"Of course. But I might cook dinner tonight as your punishment." She chuckled as he paled. She knew enough to make a cup of tea and biscuits, but she had never had time to properly learn, and since being queen, then senator, she had the resources to provide otherwise.
"Truly?" She was confused and looked in his eyes, seeing the echoing pain. He wasn't asking for forgiveness for the light quip, but for everything. For all that he had done to her.
The look was thick and full and overpowering. "Yes Anakin. I love you with my entire being. And despite being teased mercilessly by you, I forgive you." He kissed her cheek and sighed.
"Thank you." And he dug in, his rumbling stomach growling fiercely.
"Do they not feed you at the Temple?" she teased, a cup of tea appearing before you. "Dormé?" She glance up and the handmaiden smiled.
"Sorry milady. The Chancellor is on the Com, asking for Anakin." He paused and a dark look crossed his face.
"Please tell him that I'm at the Temple and will meet with him later."
"Yes, Anakin."
"Thank you Dormé." He said and she nodded and left.
Padmé felt a tremor as if something important had just happened, something so large that it made the air heavy with weight of it. She studied him over her tea cup, he looked calm and peaceful, but she was not Force Sensitive, she could not look into the corners of his soul as others could. But she loved him, and her love healed his wounds. "Something you want to tell me?"
He was finishing the plate and said nothing, he merely stood and placed it on the counter and leaned against the wall. "I feel .. empty." He said finally.
"You just ate," she teased, attempting to lighten the mood, but his eyes caught hers and she walked over to him and hugged him close.
"I feel like the weight of the galaxy is on my shoulders, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to hold it anymore." Her beautiful face was solemn, and staring up at him. He cupped her cheek and kissed her gently. She was confused, but not holding back, she returned the kiss.
"Talk to me." She said, his forehead resting on hers, "I may not understand, but I will listen. Without judgment. I swear." He sighed and she tugged him to their room. He laid on top of the pale blue coverlet and she curled up beside him, her head resting on his shoulder.
"I was at the temple trying to find information on this Emperor.. and couldn't find anything. There have been Kings and Queens and other such royalty, but never an Emperor." His eyes were closed and she remained still, his heart hammering away under the skin that warmed her cheek. "Master Yoda summoned me before I could start an in depth search."
His arms wrapped around her, holding her close. "We talked, mostly about the Dark Side that's hanging around the Capital." She nodded and inhaled deeply, his scent of leather, fresh rain, and soap calming her, grounding her.
"You think it's the Chancellor?"
"Not per-se." He hedged. "But there's something there.."
"Why haven't you seen it before?" She asked and she felt him tense. "I'm sorry." She said quickly.
"No, it's fine." She looked at him, gnawing on her lip. He had always been so protective of his relationship with the Chancellor. Anakin had craved the attention of the older man who had took him under his wing and guided the frightened small boy to a strong young man he had become, but in the past few weeks, Anakin had become increasingly distrusting of the man. She didn't know what caused it, but she was relieved, having long since lost her faith in the once gentle man who had been one of her dearest advisors while she had been Queen.
"I didn't see it before because I didn't want to. I didn't want to look." He looked away. "Much in the way I stay out of your head. I respect your privacy and I had respected his."
She kissed his chin, "You are a good man Anakin Skywalker." He smiled and relaxed slightly. The night before had been a long one and his sleep had been short and he felt his eyes growing heavy as they lay cuddled together. He felt her shift and snuggle in deeper. He sighed contentedly and lost the battle with his eyelids and fell asleep.
Ok, you know the drill, the more reviews I get, the more interest this story has for me and the quicker the updates. I've given up hope controlling it, so I will be just as surprised as you as to what the finished product looks like.
Once again, I am in awe of the support and love this ficlet is getting. And I am going to use my new found power for only the good.. and the naughty lol!
Thank you all, you are WONDERFUL! S.W.L