A/N: So um *dodges flying tomatoes* I wrote another fluffy Ani/Padmé chapter. I'm sorry! *crowd boos*
Come on, you guys. Hear me out. Things are going to start getting interesting again. I have a few twists in mind. I just wanna rekindle the romance between Ani and Padmé after such a traumatic and if you're gonna look at it realistically, that isn't a quick 1-2-3 process. This entire fic is not going to be mushy. I promise. But the characters have to get back in the swing of things, you know? Thank you froovygirl for reviewing.
Chapter Fourteen
Compassion
Padmé didn't know what side of Anakin she'd see when he woke up. She didn't know if he would ever be able to smile again. If he'd be angry about what happened to him.
She didn't know if the last dregs of his innocence would fade away like the slow setting of a distant sun.
But she wanted to curse herself for having so little faith.
Because he was looking up at her and smiling so wide it seemed it would break his face.
She had put him in a hover chair and brought him to the sink, his head hanging over the basin.
She washed his hair slowly, building up a rich, soapy lather.
Anakin would always in part be a boy to her.
But in the past year he had taken care of her like a man.
He had protected her.
He had comforted her with a soft laugh when she was frustrated about Luke and Leia.
He had joked and teased her when she was angry about issues in the senate.
Padmé always took everything so seriously and it exhausted her. But Anakin was always there to lighten a mood.
Even when she knew he was exhausted himself. Even when he spent all day at the temple, sparring with other Padawans and teaching the Younglings.
Even when his muscles were sore and she could see the sleep in his eyes.
He could have given her a quick kiss and went to bed after he came home. But he stayed. Every day.
He played with Luke and Leia so she could finish the work waiting for her on her data-pads.
He had told her she would never have to give up who she was if she married him. And he had kept that promise.
She wasn't his dutiful, obedient wife. She was his partner and his equal.
Her needs were always first. Always.
So it felt good to take care of him, to watch the light of unwavering love in his eyes.
The gratitude.
That someone could love him for who he was. Not for what he was.
Padmé didn't love him because he was the Chosen One. She didn't love him because he was a great warrior or a good Jedi. She didn't love him because he was handsome.
She loved him because of his innocence, because of his compassion for his fellow man.
Anakin had always been looking for someone to love him. Not just romantically.
When he had left his mother to become a Jedi he looked up to Obi-wan.
Obi-wan was brave. He was a Jedi.
And Anakin looked for the Jedi Master's respect. He wanted the approval. And he would rarely ever tell Obi-wan, but he would have liked to have someone like Obi-wan as his father.
And it hurt him that Obi-wan rejected those feelings of attachment.
It was unfair now to be angry with Obi-wan. He was just doing his job.
But Anakin was always disappointed anyways.
And he made friends in the temple. But they were only friends with him because they were impressed with his skills as a Jedi.
They liked the Chosen One. They did not like Anakin.
And he needed the love. He needed to replace the wound in his heart opened up like it had been stricken with a blaster's shot. Opened up when he left Shmi.
He needed someone to replace her.
He needed someone to be his friend.
No one cared enough to be a friend.
And Padmé was everything he had been waiting for.
She was a friend, and a maternal nurturer. A lover. Someone he was allowed to love and someone who was not afraid to love him back.
And she could see the gratitude in his eyes.
He was still smiling.
Padmé laughed.
"You look very silly right now, Ani."
The medical gown he was wearing shifted as he laughed in return and Padmé was taken from the moment when she saw tree branch shaped marks come up from his sternum and go up over his shoulder.
She stopped laughing.
He looked at himself and pulled the gown up so it stopped at his neck.
He sat up shamefully.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry, Anakin?"
"Because it's disgusting."
He paused and began drying his hair.
"They said they can get rid of them with a few laser treatments. I guess the shocks burned some of the veins and capillaries under my skin."
Padmé stared at him wordlessly.
"I still have use of my hands. If you'd like I can bathe and then you can come back and help me out when I'm done."
Her voice was soft.
"You're not disgusting, Anakin. And if they could never treat those scars I wouldn't care. Don't hide yourself from me."
"You deserve better than this, Padmé. You deserve a fresh faced prince. Someone handsome, like a holo-movie star."
"But, Anakin. You are handsome. You weren't listening to Sola the first time she met you. You're a very handsome man."
His eyes were downcast.
"Not anymore."
She cupped his face in her hands.
"Look at me, Ani."
His eyes met hers.
"You could never be ugly to me, okay? I wouldn't care if you were bald or riddled with scars or whatever physical imperfection you can think of right now. If I had wanted a handsome suitor I would have chosen one already. There were many. Dukes and princes and senator's sons. And they were all very handsome. But I didn't want them, because I hated who they were inside."
"I love you because of what is under that skin, whatever is in your bones and your heart and your soul. I love you."
She untied his gown so it pooled around his waist and kissed where all the lightning shaped scars originated in the center of his chest and then his shoulder and finally her lips met his.
He pulled his gown back up and Padmé stopped his hands and broke the kiss.
"Again, Ani? I just told you it…"
"I'm not doing it because I'm ashamed, Padmé! Your sister is standing in the doorway with our children!"
She turned around and looked at Sola.
They all exploded into laughter.
Sola was hesitant and she stayed in the doorway awkwardly.
"Um, I'm going to pretend I didn't just see you two try to sleep together in a med-center. So unethical, Padmé."
"Unethical? Isn't it one of your fantasies with Darred? Public places like in those holo-soap operas you watch."
Sola covered her mouth with her hands and tried desperately not to laugh.
She brought the hover carrier with Luke and Leia over.
Anakin watched them with a proud smile.
They were currently swatting each other in the face.
He looked at Padmé.
"You're not afraid they'll gouge each other's eyes out?" he asked.
"They're not strong enough for that. They might scratch each other, though." She joked.
"I thought that was a game reserved only for you and Sola." He mocked.
Sola smirked. She handed Leia to Padmé and Luke to Anakin.
He looked into Luke's eyes.
"Do you remember me?" He asked the boy.
Luke reached out. "Da-da."
Anakin smiled goofily and looked over at Sola and Padmé.
"He remembers me." He said it like he had won some sort of game and they had lost.
Luke started to whine and Anakin laughed and bent his head.
Luke grabbed his father's golden tufts of hair, pulling the locks repeatedly.
"That doesn't hurt?" Sola asked.
Anakin smiled sheepishly.
"A little."
Padmé and Sola laughed.
"Well he deserves it. I gave birth to them. He can take the pain for a little bit."
"Thank Gods I don't have my padawan braid anymore. He'd probably tear it out, no problem."
They all laughed.
Padmé's faith had left her for a while. But it came back in that moment.
Everything was going to be okay.
She could breathe.
Everything was going to be okay.