Padmè sat at the table in their makeshift dining room, gently tracing patterns over her stomach. She smiled, imagining it growing bigger with their child. Already, the barely there bulge was becoming a bit bigger. It was still barely noticeable, but it was big enough to where Padmè felt a difference, especially when it came to clothing. Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, she softly began to talk to her baby.

"I love you so much. I can't wait for you to be born," she whispered. "Your dad can't wait either. He loves you more than I think he can tell. Some days he's a little grumpy, and he can be scary, especially when he yells, but never forget he loves you."

She started when she heard a sound, and blushed fiercely when she saw Anakin standing by the door.

"I-I'm sorry Anakin I was just…"

"You don't have to apologize, it was-"

"I know it was stupid I just thought that maybe if I-"

"Padmè!" He said raising his voice a bit. "It's not stupid," he whispered, taking her hands and gently kissing them.

Padmè bit her lip. She had never witnessed Anakin acting so 'gallant' for no apparent reason, and she had to admit she was a bit nervous.

"Everything's fine," he said, as if reading her mind. He probably was. "I just have a question for you."

"Alright," Padmè said, still unsure.

"So you ever get tired of waiting for me to tell you that we're going to get married?"

Padmè blinked. She had no idea that this line of thought was where Anakin was headed.

"Well, I know you've been busy with-"

"I didn't ask if you knew I was busy, I asked if you got tired of me waiting to marry you," he interrupted. "Please, be honest with me Padmè."

She hesitated at first, but then complied with his request.

"I guess I am a bit frustrated with waiting. But being married isn't really as important to me anymore. Not that I don't want to get married! Just that I suppose I feel like I'm already married to you. All that's left is to make it official. But oh how nice it would be to finally become Mrs. Anakin-" She stopped when she realized that she didn't know his last name.

"Skywalker," he supplied. She smiled.

"Mrs. Anakin Skywalker. Oh Ani, that's such a lovely name. Our baby will be Skywalker right? It seems like just the perfect last name for our youngling."

"Even I am too kind to give a baby the last name 'Vader'," he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he thought of it.

Padmè giggled softly, before stopping to stare into Anakin's icy blue gaze

"My Ani," she whispered stroking his cheek.

Anakin felt his heart beating wildly. Sith, she's going to kiss me, he thought. But he shook the notion away, disgusted with himself for acting like a lovesick schoolboy.

Before Padmè could react, Anakin had gently caught her lips with his, and was kissing her insistently. Her cheeks colored as he held her face in his hands, deepening the kiss more. He pulled back, tracing her cheeks with his thumbs. Padmè looked away, biting her lip.

"I love you Anakin," she whispered, looking into his eyes. She could see the color in his cheeks rise.

"I know," he said softly. His heart lurched, and he immediately felt guilty. What was preventing him from responding I love you too?

"Why can't you tell me that you love me? Why can't you just lie to me, so that just once, I could pretend that I'm here for a reason?" she asked, tears forming rapidly in her eyes.

Anakin looked away.

"I-I'm sorry," Padmè gasped, before running away.

"Padmè, wait!" Anakin called after her. He followed for a couple steps, until he heard the metallic slam of the turbolift door.

--------------------

He slept restlessly that night, not used to the empty feeling of the bed. After many bouts of looking at the chronometer watching the time pass, he finally fell asleep.

Sand. And lots of it.

He looked around, scoffing at the strange land that he stood upon. A look at one of the houses made him realize where he was: Tatooine. He frowned. What in Sith's hells am I doing here? he thought angrily. A loud sound interrupted his thoughts, and he turned.

Right in front of one of the houses, wearing a plain brown dress, was his mother.

Anakin blinked. The whole idea was preposterous. Shmi was dead, and had been for sixteen years. This had to be a hallucination.

"Ani?" his mother said, coming forward and gently touching his arm. "Is that you?"

Anakin gulped. His heart thudded loudly in his chest, and he was sure that she could hear it beating.

"M-Mom?" he asked tentatively. She smiled and nodded, and he grabbed her in a tight embrace. "I've missed you so much," he admitted as tears gathered in his eyes.

"Oh my sweet boy. I've missed you too." She stepped back and held him at arms length. "You're so handsome," she teased gently.

"I can't believe this is happening. I've wanted this for so long," he said, burying his face in his mother's shoulder.

"I have too, Anakin. But this visit has a specific purpose. I was allowed to visit you in your dreams because of it." She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Do not take what I am about to tell you lightly." Anakin nodded.

"It's about Padmè."

He winced. He should have known that something like this would lead to his mother's visitation.

"What about Padmè?" he asked, pretending to be nonchalant. Shmi narrowed her eyes.

"You know perfectly well 'What about Padmè'. She's madly in love with you, and yet you don't seem to care."

Anakin chewed his lip.

"I care. It's just…hard." He looked at her. "I haven't gotten close to anyone since you died." Shmi gently cupped his face in her hands.

"I know Anakin. But this isn't just 'anyone'; this is the mother of your child. She's left everything she knows behind to be with you. Don't you understand how big of a sacrifice this is for her? For any one person?" She looked at him patiently. Anakin looked down at his shoes, scuffling his boots in the sand.

"I know she loves me. And truthfully, I think I'm starting to love her too. But at the same time I can't. I couldn't bear to lose someone I love again." He looked up again at his mother.

"Ani, part of love is taking that risk, about living life to the fullest. You would be so much happier if you allowed yourself to fall in love with her. She's such a special girl, Anakin. Girls like that don't come along too often. And they don't stay for very long either."

He winced again, upon hearing that.

"I don't think I'm ready to tell her that yet.," he said softly. Shmi smiled.

"Just promise me that when you are ready, you'll tell her."

Anakin nodded slowly. A small light appeared behind her.

"I have to go now Ani."

"No, Mom, please don't leave!" he proclaimed. Shmi smiled sadly.

"We will see each other again Anakin. I promise." With a brilliant flash, she was gone.

Anakin awoke, his face and chest covered with sweat.

"Anakin? Are you alright?" Padmè stood in the doorway, slowly coming towards the bed.

"You were talking in your sleep. Is something wrong?" she asked softly, her hand in his hair. Anakin sat up quickly.

"I'm…fine, I guess. I had the strangest dream…"

"What was it Ani?"

"I saw my mother," he said. A hint of sadness in his voice.

"Oh." She wasn't sure what else to say. Thoughts of his mother often made him upset.

"It wasn't bad. She spoke to me. It was actually quite pleasant." He took her hand.

"I'm sorry about our fight Anakin. I don't mean to keep bringing those same things up I just-"

"Shh," Anakin said, placing a finger to her lips. "It's very understandable. I know that I'm a frustrating person." He placed a hand on her stomach. "And soon our baby will know, just as we both do."

Padmè smiled at him, and gently lay her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead.

"We're going home tomorrow."

"That'll be nice," she said with a smile. Anakin rubbed her back slowly.

"I'm sorry we didn't get married. We still can if you want to," he apologized.

"It's alright. I just want to go home. We need to paint the baby's room still," Padmè said softly. She could imagine it now: A soft blue, the exact color of the Nubian sky.

"You're right. I've been thinking about shades of pink we could use and-"

"Anakin, we're having a boy," Padmè interrupted him.

"Padmè, it's rude to argue with the Emperor, especially a Force user," he teasingly chastised.

"And it's rude to argue with the mother of your child," she replied simply, gently kissing him. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"We'll see," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. We will see Anakin, and we will see that you are wrong."

"Are you willing to wager on that belief, Milady?" he asked with false gallantry.

"I indeed am, Your Highness," she said, exaggerating the last two words.

"Fine. Then the loser of this bet will be required to perform a task of any nature declared by the winner," he said regally. Padmè smirked.

"Alright then," Padmè said, shaking Anakin's hand.

She's going down, Anakin thought cockily.

I hope you're ready to lose, love, Padmè thought happily.