Chapter 28
Husband and Wife
The party hadn't lasted too long after Vexton crashed it, and Anakin was glad. When the guests had left, he hastily peeled off the fancy clothes in favor of a more casual outfit and took Zett on a hike around the grounds to clear his head. In a way, it had helped, but only in the sense that it wore him out enough to make him only think about how tired he was and how much he wanted to take a nap.
But he couldn't just go and take a nap. First he had to help clean up after the party, while simultaneously watching the children run around the house. And then it was time for dinner. The meal wasn't as hectic as it usually was as the twins were still somewhat subdued from Vexton's earlier stunt, but there was still a lot of squirming and playing with food.
After dinner, it was on to the difficult task of getting the toddlers into bed. Phase one consisted of wearing the twins down, usually by playing several energetic games. Phase two was cleaning them up and changing them into their tiny sleep clothes. And Phase three was getting them in their beds, keeping them there, and telling them stories until they passed out. On a good night, this took about three hours to complete successfully. On a bad night, much, much longer. Again, as the twins were still a little shook up from the party, they behaved themselves very well and were loaded into bed after just two hours.
Once the babies were sleeping, the rest of the household seemed to dissolve. Artoo parked himself in the nursery to play nightlight and bodyguard. Orbie shut down for the night and plugged into a power outlet somewhere to recharge his batteries. Typho checked the security systems over, just to be safe, and then went to sleep. Zett slipped off to his room to do his homework before turning in for the night. Maré slunk into the large hall closet that she had commandeered as her room and fallen asleep in seconds when she was sure that her presence was no longer required for anything. And Sabé had curled up in her room with a book before she too would sleep.
Anakin sorely wished to join all the other people in the house in the act of sleeping, but he still had some things to do first. He needed to talk with Padmé about what they were going to do about what Vexton was trying to do. And Padmé, after bottling up her feelings and opinions on the matter all afternoon and night, was now furiously venting it all as she paced around her room in her nightgown and robe while he sat on her bed dressed for sleep and listened.
"…never seen such an arrogant, pig-headed, shaak-brained, dashkai in my entire life!" Padmé vented as she paced. "Why someone hasn't killed him yet, I have no idea!"
I have no idea what "dashkai" means, and I don't think I want to know… "The people here are too cultured and sophisticated to do something so crude as hiring a hit man, and they're too afraid that if they tried they'd get caught and lose everything that they have."
"I know," Padmé sighed, abruptly ending her furious pacing. "I knew that Xendiir was too good to be true. It seemed like the perfect place. Good climate, healthy natural environment, acceptable level of technology, good schools, good house, tolerable cultural and social conditions…" She sighed again and sat down beside him on the edge of her giant, fluffy bed. "If Vexton pulls another stunt like this, I think we'll have to seriously consider moving."
"Moving?" Anakin frowned. But…I just got here. "Surely there's something else that we can do to get him to back off. Isn't there anything that scares him?"
"Rumor has it that the only person that can put him in his place is his father, Rexus Dare. Unfortunately, Rexus is reputed to be a workaholic businessman and spends most of his time making money off his shrewd investments. He spends all his time on Verdant, in his offices, and doesn't take kindly to bothering him with trivialities like what his offspring is up to." Padmé rubbed a weary hand over her face. "Unless Vexton decides to do something physical or truly criminal, I don't want to risk contacting his father."
"All right," Anakin agreed with a tired shrug. "So do we have a plan for how to deal with what Vexton's doing now?"
"There's a courthouse on Bessta, the next island over, and a ferry runs between Viscan and Bessta three times a day. The only way I can see to fix this is to go for a plain civil ceremony, and do it as soon as possible." She anxiously fiddled with the sash of her robe before glancing up at him. "But…if we do this…Ani, won't you get in trouble?"
"Huh?" he blinked.
"Jedi aren't allowed to get married," she reminded him. "Faking marriage and forging the paperwork for it is one thing, but to go and do it for real…"
He chewed this over in his head for a moment before replying. "To be technical," he smirked, "Anakin Skywalker was never a Jedi, and Dar'ti Vader was only pretending to be a Jedi, so I've never really been a Jedi; and therefore I am not bound by their silly rules." His triumphant grin faded. "The real question is: do you mind being legally stuck with me for however long our existence in this exile lasts?"
Padmé studied him curiously for a minute. Then she smiled and leaned up against his side. "Don't be silly, Ani, of course I don't mind being 'stuck with you.' There are much worse men I could marry than you, you know. Like, say, Josef Vorski, or Vexton, or…Emperor Palpatine."
Anakin couldn't help but shudder. "Thank you for giving me nightmares for the next week and a half."
"Sorry," she giggled. "But really, Ani, I have absolutely no problem marrying you. My only concern was whether you would get in trouble if you did and if you wanted to go through with it."
"Well, I don't have any problem with it," he snorted. "And if you don't, then I guess we'll be going to this courthouse and…getting married."
"All right then," she sighed and rested her cheek against his shoulder. "We can catch the noon ferry to Bessta tomorrow and take the evening ferry back to Viscan after we finish. I can gather up the required witnesses in the morning. Hopefully I can convince some of the neighbors to do it, as it would be best to get witnesses from outside the household…"
Padmé rambled on about her plans for the next day and the details of those plans and Anakin just nodded every now and then in agreement. Then she moved on from talking about how they would carry out their expeditious civil union to ideas she'd had for a possible vacation to take when the twins were a few years older. And then she drifted on to ideas she had for redecorating a few rooms of the castle.
Feeling tired, and tired of sitting on the edge of her ridiculously fluffy bed, he gently nudged her all the way on the bed. She kept right on rambling as she settled back against the pillows and he kept on nodding where appropriate as he got comfortable next to her. He lay on his side, facing her, with his head propped up on his cold mechanical hand, and listened to Padmé go on about something about color combinations that he didn't even pretend to understand, but still nodded seriously when she seemed to want him to agree to something.
Eventually, his tired eyelids grew heavier, and it took more and more effort to open them every time he blinked. His neck was starting to get a bit stiff so he laid his head on one of Padmé's many pillows. And then, when he couldn't bother to open his eyes anymore, he just listened to her gentle voice…
"…But before we do any of that, Sabé's been requesting we purchase a private ship. So, Ani, do you have any suggestions for what sort of ship we should think about getting?"
He didn't answer.
"Ani?"
Padmé turned to check on him, and found that he was fast asleep. Oops! I think I bored him too much with all that talk about redecorating…
Now she found herself in a minor dilemma. Should she wake poor Anakin up and send him to his own room? Or should she just let him stay where he was?
Oh, this is silly! she chided herself. This bed is more than big enough for two adults. Sabé and Typho could join us before it would start to get crowded!
And besides, I'm going to really marry Anakin tomorrow. Married couples tend to sleep in the same bed on occasion. This is no big deal.
Her mind made up, she hopped off the bed to turn out the lights. Then she carefully peeled back the sheets, struggling a bit with the section that was trapped under Anakin's body. And then, after carefully tucking him in, she crawled into bed near him (but not right next to him) and did her best to get to sleep.
However, it took much longer than it usually did for unconsciousness to claim her. It was stupid. He wasn't even touching her, not even breathing on her, but the very fact that he was sleeping in the same bed with her kept prickling around her mind and kept her awake. But eventually, after what felt like hours, she did drift off…
The first thing that Anakin became aware of was a bright light stabbing at his eyelids. That was a little odd, as his bedroom didn't have a window and he never slept with the lights on. But he sleepily shrugged the inconsistency off, turned his face away from the invading sunbeam, and snuggled closer to…
The second thing that Anakin became aware of was the fact that he was not alone in his bed. There was a warm body curled up against his chest. And his arms were wrapped around this warm body…
This led to the realization that this was not his bed. It was far too soft and fluffy to be his. And it was in the wrong room according to the sunlight that now warmed his cheek instead of attacking his closed eyes.
And all of this led Anakin to ask himself one very important question: What the hell did I do last night?
His eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at the top of a familiar head. Slowly glancing down, he found that familiar head attached to a familiar body. And this led to a rush of panic and a sickening sense of déjà vu.
Oh shit! I-we couldn't have! Not again! I…
Relief swamped him as he realized that he was still fully clothed, as was she. Therefore, what he had feared had happened, hadn't. And then as his mind woke up more, he recalled that he hadn't consumed anything alcoholic the previous night, nor had she.
Phew! He sighed as all the sudden tension ran out of him. Oh that scared me…
Now with that moment of sheer panic out of the way, he began to wonder just how he ended up in such an…interesting…situation.
Lemme think… There was that party. Vexton showed up and was a complete jerk. Padmé and I had to talk after we put the kids to bed and… Oh.
He cringed a little in embarrassment as he realized he'd fallen asleep while Padmé had been talking to him. He had fallen asleep next to her, in her bed, while she'd been talking about…about…something. And she…hadn't kicked him out?
Okay. I'm confused. Why wouldn't she wake me up and send me off to my own bed? I'm not that hard to wake up…
Padmé sighed into his chest and shifted closer to him. Anakin was immediately glad that he was wearing a shirt, as he usually slept shirtless. And then he wished that he had chosen a thicker shirt.
Oh this is…awkward…and complicated. We've only had sex once…years ago…as a result of spiked drinks…which then resulted in two babies…and I don't remember it at all… And right now, I'm not sure what I'm allowed to touch.
Swallowing nervously, he carefully removed his left hand from where it was draped dangerously low on her back. Then he slowly removed his right hand from under the pillows under his head. But just as he was edging away from her to make his escape, she scooted closer to him and drowsily slipped her arm around his neck.
"Mmm," she sighed. "Quit moving."
"Uh," he choked. "Um, Padmé—"
"Shh," she mumbled into his neck. "'m trying t' sleep."
"But…" he floundered. "But it's morning."
She sluggishly leaned back and squinted at his face. "It is?"
He managed a weak smile. "Yes, it is."
"Oh." She blinked a few times before burying her face into his shoulder. "Five more minutes."
Oh Force… He gulped hard. "Um…okay?"
"Good," she sighed, "'m tired."
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and worked on relaxing. Since he didn't seem to be going anywhere soon, and since she really didn't seem to mind him being there, he might as well settle in and enjoy himself a little. Force only knew when he was going to find himself in this situation again. So he very carefully slipped his arms around her waist and mentally reviewed the schedule for the day.
Get up, shower, get dressed, and eat breakfast. Get the kids up, feed them, and dress them. And then Padmé's going to round up some neighbors, we're going to catch some ferry at noon, and…and then we're going to get married.
Anakin sighed deeply and rested his cheek against her hair. Maybe I should sleep a little longer. Today is bound to be…very interesting.
Padmé felt so tense she almost wondered if her frame would snap from it. So far, everything had gone incredibly smoothly. But she couldn't shake the lingering fear that, somehow, some way, something would go terribly wrong.
After running through the usual morning circus of getting everyone up, dressed, and fed, she'd made a few calls to various neighbors that she considered friends to see if she could scrounge up the pair of witnesses for the afternoon. She managed to secure the Wilks participation by promising Sabé and Typho as babysitters for their own children and then it was off to pick up some tickets for the noon ferry to Bessta. Then, after acquiring the tickets, gathering up all the (forged) papers that they might need, recruiting Orbie to record everything, and meeting up with the Wilks in town, it was down to the docks and on to the ferry.
The ferry ride had been the closest thing to a snag so far. It was a primitive ferry; it rode the waves instead of hovering over them on repulsors. Perhaps it was just stress, but Padmé began to feel a bit seasick and spent the entire trip leaning on the railing and praying to not spew her breakfast over the side. Anakin stayed with her the whole time, though she noted that the sight of so much water all around and underneath him appeared to make him nervous.
Thankfully the ride was only an hour long, though it felt ten times longer to her, and they reached Bessta Island without incident. The courthouse was a medium-sized building near the center of town, less then ten minutes from the ship docks. It was the smallest courthouse that Padmé had ever seen, but it was open and the judge was free and that was all that really mattered.
Since Xendiir was so peaceful and the Human population was so low, the courthouse didn't see much use. The single judge's usual job was mediating minor to moderate disputes, and even then he was left with little to do most days. He was quite surprised when Padmé led her little group inside and asked about having a civil ceremony performed as soon as possible, but he cheerfully agreed and managed to throw things together in under an hour.
Now the judge, a middle-aged man who was balding and slightly overweight, but a very pleasant man overall, was running through the very plain vows while Orbie recorded it all in high-quality holo. She and Anakin had temporarily removed their rings for the ceremony and stood across from each in front of the judge, hand in hand. Dana and Grenner Wilk stood off to the side, watching solemnly. All the paperwork had been signed, and in five more minutes, it would be official.
She tried to focus on what Judge Garn was saying, but her mind kept flicking back to the terrible feeling that something was going to go wrong. Somehow Vexton Dare would manage to ruin this, even though he wasn't anywhere in sight. He had ruined her party yesterday and she had no doubts that he would do his damnedest to ruin this too.
"Now, Anakin, do you promise to take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to cherish her, protect her, and support her until death parts you from her?"
Anakin's blue eyes burned into hers and her paranoia concerning Vexton Dare's infuriating antics was swept away. "I do."
"And, Padmé, do you promise to take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise cherish him, obey him, and support him until death parts you from him?"
Only her years as Queen and Senator allowed her to somehow find her voice long enough to speak the two words that she needed to. "I do."
"Good, it's official then." Judge Garn grinned cheerfully, shedding the grave face he'd worn during the short, plain ceremony. "Put your rings back on, kiss, and I'll validate your marriage license."
The judge then briefly left to do the very last bits of paper shuffling. Padmé was surprised to find her hands were shaking as she slipped Anakin's ring back on the proper finger. Then, when Anakin did the same for her, she was vaguely satisfied to notice that his hands were trembling as well. And then, with both rings replaced, Padmé found herself suddenly frozen as Anakin nervously moved to perform the final action that Judge Garn had ordered.
Padmé had vague, fuzzy memories of kissing Anakin back during the activity that had produced her two beautiful babies. He hadn't been bad as far as she could recall, but any recollections of that event were suspect due to the involvement (unintentionally as it was) of alcoholic and illicit drugs. And she knew that Anakin had no memory at all of that event. So how this ceremonial kiss would turn out was a complete mystery to her.
Anakin took a step closer to her, set his hands at her waist, and stared down at her with his blue, blue eyes. She stared up at him, feeling paralyzed and very nervous. As a career politician, feeling paralyzed bordered on deadly, and so for a few heartbeats while Anakin hesitated she regretted the need for this civil union and wished that she could just run away from everything.
And then he kissed her.
At first it wasn't anything special. It was light and chaste, but he lingered there for a moment as if not sure what to do next. The sense of paralysis lifted from her at the initial contact, allowing her to return the kiss. Taking this as encouragement, he kissed her again, harder this time and much less chaste. And things just spiraled onward from there.
When they finally stopped, Padmé felt lightheaded and on fire. At some point she'd wrapped her arms around his neck and now she practically hung from him, not trusting her weak knees to support her weight. He rested his forehead against hers as he struggled to catch his breath. Mesmerized by his gaze, she was about to kiss him again…only to be interrupted by Orbie making a sound that suspiciously resembled a wolf whistle.
"Thank you," Anakin growled at the hovering camera while Padmé giggled in embarrassment into his chest. "Thank you very much."
"Ah, love," Judge Garn sighed. "Everything is all in order," he announced cheerfully as he handed Padmé their copies (paper and digital) of their marriage license. "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker. Have a nice day!"
"Thank you, sir," Anakin nodded respectfully. "Shall we go?"
Padmé managed to get her nervous giggling under control and linked her arm through his so they could make their exit from the judge's chambers. Dana and Grenner trailed after them, also arm in arm. And Orbie brought up the rear, probably still recording every second.
"Thanks for coming and helping us out, Dana, Grenner," she thanked her neighbors.
"You're very welcome Mrs. Skywalker," Grenner smiled. "It was no trouble at all."
"Thank you for letting our children stay in your home," Dana added. "They always love exploring Dannarak Castle."
Padmé smiled and was about to reply when the smile died on her face. They were halfway down the front steps of the courthouse and standing at the bottom of the steps was the last person that she wanted to see. Vexton Dare stood there with a puzzled look on his holo-star face and two men in business suits that Padmé took to be some of his lawyers hovered at each shoulder.
Damn it! Her lingering lightheadedness instantly evaporated and she clung to Anakin and their stack of legal papers with a death grip. He just couldn't stay away! Not even for one day!
"Miss Padmé!" he blinked in surprise as she drew closer. "What are you doing here?"
"Correcting the minor problem that you so kindly pointed out yesterday," she replied tightly. "What are you doing here, Mr. Dare?"
"I'm here to file a notice of engagement," Vexton smiled slyly, "though I take it you have already filed yours, seeing as you are here. Shall we discuss dates?"
Padmé turned to the closer of Vexton's lawyers. "Sir, would you kindly explain to me what this 'notice of engagement' business is?"
"Certainly," the lawyer agreed. "A notice of engagement is a legal document that declares a man's (or woman's) intention to marry a specified individual and bars any rivals from entering into marriage with the specified individual. It lasts until the man (or woman) marries their intended."
"Is such a notice required before marriage?" she inquired. Oh please say no.
"No, it is not," the lawyer answered. "Although, it is traditional to file one at least one week before marrying."
Well, that's not happening. "Thank you," she nodded politely to the lawyer. "Well, Mr. Dare, I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but you have no need to file this notice of engagement. I am no longer available."
"No longer available?" Vexton repeated blankly. "I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Padmé. It's perfectly normal for a woman and a man to file notices of engagement on each other. But if you don't want me to file one for your hand, then why don't we just go inside and have a civil union as a preliminary to the more public ceremony I have plans for later."
"What I mean is I am now legally married to Anakin, my husband," Padmé replied sweetly. "We just completed our civil ceremony." She gestured towards the hovering Orbie. "Would you like to watch our recording?"
Vexton opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came out. Padmé found it very hard not to laugh at him, or even just smirk triumphantly, and she was certain that Anakin was having the same problem. Poor Dana and Grenner stood nervously by, probably praying to not be noticed. And Vexton's lawyers just looked bored and annoyed as they waited for their employer to recover his wits.
"How…how could you marry that?" he sputtered, gesturing derisively towards Anakin. "How? When I, Vexton Dare, am more than willing to set aside my wandering ways for you and your beautiful children?"
Padmé had to fight the urge to puke. Like you would ever stay faithful to me, Vexton. And I know you hate children. "It's simple, Mr. Dare. He is not only the father of my children, but he is my best friend and I love him. That's all the reason that I need. Now if you'll excuse me, we need to be heading home. Have a nice day, Mr. Dare." She tried to brush past him and escape, but he stepped in front of her, forcing her to halt.
"Miss Padmé, let it be known that I love you and will be forever devoted to you," he announced so loudly that they few passers-by across the street stopped to stare at them. "And," he leaned in to whisper, "one day, you will be mine. It's a promise." And then he kissed her cheek and cheerfully walked away, his pair of lawyers at his heels.
When he was gone, Padmé made a show of wiping off her kissed cheek. "That arrogant pig! I'd sooner marry the Emperor than him! And Palpatine's a wrinkled, evil, old man who'd sell out his own mother if it suited his purposes."
"Padmé," Dana fretted, "you really shouldn't provoke him that way. The longer you hold out against him, the worse it will be. I-I know it's terrible, but you should let him get what he wants so that he'll leave you alone."
"Never," Padmé scowled as she stormed back towards the docks, almost dragging Anakin along by the arm. "I will never let that bastard lay a hand on me. I have no interest in his body, his money, or mothering another one of his illegitimate children."
"All right," Grenner agreed nervously. "But please, be careful."
"I always am," Padmé smiled tightly. "Now let's get out of here. The children are probably wondering where we are."
Poor Padmé, Anakin sighed as he held her hand, and held back her hair, while she leaned over the railing of the ferry and coughed and gagged. I'd never peg her as being prone to motion-sickness. She's never had trouble with even the roughest space travel. At least, not that I've heard about.
The waves had gotten rougher by the time the even ferry left Bessta for Viscan, which was why Padmé was now spewing her late lunch over the side, when she hadn't had such an extreme reaction on the earlier boat ride. Once they got back on solid ground he had no doubt that she would never set foot on an ocean-going boat ever again. Little water-speeders on calm lakes and channels back on Naboo were one thing, this was clearly another.
I think if we need to go to a different island, we'll be taking a space ship from now on… He squinted at the horizon and sighed in relief. Oh good, we're almost there.
"Just ten more minutes," he promised her quietly.
"That's too long," she moaned. "Ugh, I'm sorry Ani."
"It's all right," he shrugged. "It could've been worse. You could've puked on me instead of over the side."
"Oh," she groaned and sank limply against the rail. "I almost did."
"Yeah," he snorted, "just like I almost spewed all over Obi-Wan's boots when I first met him."
"You'll have to tell me about that sometime," she swallowed hard. "Just…not right now."
"Okay," he agreed.
The last long ten minutes passed in silence as the ferry lumbered up to the wooden docks of Viscan Island. Anakin didn't want to bother Padmé, and Padmé was probably focusing on not throwing up again. The instant that the ferry was tied off and the gangplank was lowered, they were off the boat and back onto a solid, non-moving surface.
"Oh, that was bad," Padmé gasped, clinging to a light post. "That's it, no more ferry rides."
"Agreed," Anakin nodded. "Feeling better?"
"Starting to," she muttered. "Oh, why did this never happen to me on Naboo?"
"Naboo has no oceans," he reminded her, "only lakes and rivers, so no big waves."
"Ugh," she grunted. "What an awful day."
Anakin cringed. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," she assured him. "Not your fault at all, Ani."
Dana and Grenner Wilk caught up with them then, while Orbie remained embroiled in some sort of odd war that he was waging with the seabirds that flocked around the ferry.
"We'll be going ahead and taking our children home," Grenner informed them.
"It's been a long day," Dana smiled weakly. "I hope you feel better Padmé."
"I will," Padmé grinned wanly. "Thank you for being witnesses."
"You're welcome," Grenner nodded politely, and then they both left.
"Oh, what a day," Padmé sighed when the neighbors were gone. "And to think that it isn't even time for dinner yet." She made a face. "Not that I want dinner right now…"
Anakin patted her shoulder comfortingly before turning his attention to retrieving his wayward droid camera. The blue and yellow sphere kept charging the black-feathered avians, as if it was trying to drive them all away so that it could claim the ferry as its own property. With a sigh, he carefully reached into the Force and tugged the hovercam away from the roof of the ferry.
"Enough," he scolded the complaining device. "We're going home now. Either stay with us, or go on ahead."
With an electronic raspberry, the droid zipped away towards Dannarak Castle.
Shaking his head, he gently tugged Padmé free of the light post and led her into town. "Come on; let's find a place to sit down."
He managed to find a bench near the center of the small town that dominated Viscan and briefly left her there to pick up a bottle of water from a nearby snack shop so that she could rinse her mouth out. Then, while she nursed the water and waited for her stomach to settle, he sat beside her and watched the few pedestrians wander around. Although Viscan was one of the more populated islands on Xendiir, even at the busiest hours, the urban center on the island had an empty, airy feeling as so few people were around.
Then, when he was certain that she was feeling much better, he asked a question that had been dogging him all day. "I don't suppose that this is what you had in mind when you dreamed about getting married, is it?"
"No," she chuckled, "not at all. Running into Vexton Dare and then getting seasick definitely doesn't fit into what I had planned."
Anakin chewed at his lip and rubbed at his ring. "If you could have everything the way you want it, how would your ideal wedding be?"
"Oh…" she leaned back on the bench and swished her water around. "If I could have my 'ideal wedding' it would be on Naboo, at the Varykino retreat. I'd wear my grandmother's wedding dress and my family and friends would be there, and your family and friends would be there. After the ceremony we'd have a nice little party. And after that, everyone would leave so we could have a nice long honeymoon at Varykino."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That sounds nice. I wish we had time to bring my mom here. And I wish Obi-Wan had stuck around longer so we could've dragged him along too."
"That would've been nice," Padmé agreed, "but this wasn't too terrible. It got the job done, and it got it done fast; that's what we were after." She sighed and leaned on his shoulder. "If we'd waited, Vexton would've filed that 'notice of engagement' and then we'd have had to move away."
"That's such a stupid law," Anakin scowled. "It's too bad you can't go into politics here and strike it from the books."
"Don't tempt me," she snorted.
"I won't," he promised and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Still…it's too bad that we couldn't wait until we could gather up more personal witnesses, and even throw a little after party with some real friends."
"Yeah," she nodded. "But…maybe someday, when we don't have to hide anymore, we can do a little renewal of the vows ceremony on Naboo with all our friends and family. That is, if you want to."
"Sounds good to me," he grinned. "If you want to do that, I have no problems with it."
Padmé frowned worriedly. "Well, are you sure that the Jedi—"
"If they have a problem with this, then it's their own fault. If they kick me out over this, then let them; I don't care." He kissed her temple. "If they ask me to choose between the Order and my family, I choose my family."
"I'd rather you not lose your place in the Order over this, but…" She hugged him tightly and tucked her head under his chin. "Thank you."
"Anything for you, Angel," he murmured and embraced her back.
"Let's go home now," she whispered.
"Sure thing," he smiled and fished out his comm-link to call Typho to come and get them.
What a day, he sighed as he placed the call. What a day. Too bad Obi-Wan missed it. I wonder what he's doing right now…?
