POV: Ahsoka Skywalker

Slowly, we were beginning to rebuild the Jedi Order. We had fixed up most of the temple and now each of us had our own rooms once again. Anakin and I got the largest room so we could keep Kaimi, Shmi, and Cayden with us.

Anakin laid down beside me on the bed, dropping with exhaustion. I rubbed his back, smiling at him. He hadn't even had his ceremony yet, meaning he wasn't officially the Grand Master. He'd also been requested as the Senatorial Representative of Tatooine. The official Senator had died years ago and was never replaced.

He wasn't too happy about representing his old home, but he'd accepted it to help with the rebuilding of the Senate, keeping contact with the people of Tatooine now. He kept telling me that he would drop out if another Senator came along and wanted his position. "Long day?"

"You have no idea…" he muttered into the pillow. He pushed himself up, sitting on his legs. "How was your day? Were the kids any trouble?"

"It was fine. Kaimi was with Satine most of the day, so I had Cayden. You know how much that little guy loves to sleep."

"Until I'm here, then he keeps me up."

"He misses you," I laughed. "I miss you, Anakin."

He smiled weakly at me. "I'm sorry that I'm always rushing around. There isn't any more rushing for the rest of the night. Tonight, I am all yours." He leaned over and slowly kissed my lips. His comlink began to beep and I sighed, pulling away. "I meant what I said," he whispered. I watched him pull the comlink from his wrist and toss it onto the floor. He leaned towards me again, slowly crawling on top of me as he continued to kiss me.

"Ani…"

"Mm?" he muttered against my lips.

"I love you."

He kissed me with more passion, slowly pulling back. "I love you," he whispered. His lips connected with mine again. I placed my hands on his chest, feeling something beneath his vest. I pulled the chain up, revealing the locket I'd given him for his birthday. That picture needed to be retaken since Cayden had arrived. Anakin forced me backwards onto the bed. I clutched onto the chain around his neck, pulling his neck closer.

Later.

I woke up to hear Anakin gagging in the refresher. I jumped off of the bed, quickly pulling his shirt over me. I ran into the refresher to see him clutching his throat, eyes shut tightly.

"Ani, I thought you said –"

"I didn't think –" he gasped. "It was getting to this."

I rested my hand on his back, staring at his face. "I told you to wake me up if you were having problems, Anakin."

"I'm fine." He cleared his throat, releasing his tight grip, and opening his eyes. I could see the sheet of tears covering his eyes, but he didn't want that barrier to break.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. "Anakin, I don't want you to go through this anymore. I wish there was something we could do…"

"I saved Kaimi. What more could I possibly want? I caused this to happen to her and so I'll deal with the consequences."

"I contributed to this, too, Anakin!" I yelled, pulling away to stare up at him angrily.

"But this isn't your fault, Soka," he whispered, a single tear falling from his eye. "The majority of this is from me and I deserved to take it back. If I hadn't taken this from Kaimi, she'd become a Sith. I'd do it again if I had the chance to."

I raised my voice. "You don't deserve –" He started gagging again, leaning over the sink. "You don't deserve this, Ani…" I placed a hand on his chest and on his back, letting him know that I was here for him. Sure, this was different from all the times he'd been in the refresher with me when I was leaning over the toilet, but I was still here for him. He didn't release anything into the sink, but it looked like he wanted to. Though he was gagging, I could see the tears rolling down his face. His sounds were pained and it broke my heart. I reached up to stroke his face. "I'm here." I heard a small sound of laughter erupt from his lips before it went to a full out coughing and crying sound. "It'll pass soon, my love," I whispered, biting my lip.

I rubbed his back, leaning on his shoulder. Once his coughing fit passed, he sat on the floor. He pulled me onto his lap, circling his arms around me. I rested both hands on his chest as I stared up into his eyes. "I hate this," he whispered. "I really hate this feeling."

"I wonder if we can do something to make you feel better. Do you think we'd be able to drain that darkness out of you and put it somewhere else?"

He half smiled down at me. "As nice as that sounds, where would we put it?" I tore my gaze away from him, staring at the refresher door. He rubbed my shoulder. "I'm sorry to discourage you, Soka, but I was curious. I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of this. It's stuck with me."

"We'll find a way," I promised him.

"Before I die, I hope." Tears filled my eyes as I returned to staring up at him. My mouth hung open as I stared. His eyes widened and became apologetic instantly. "I didn't mean –" I pushed myself off of him and walked into the bedroom. Kaimi and Shmi were now crashed on their respective beds and Cayden was asleep in his crib. Strong arms wrapped around my waist as I began to sob. "I didn't mean it like that, Ahsoka. I'm sorry." I turned around, clutching his shirt in my fingers and crying into his chest. He stroked my rear lek, kissing the side of my montral. "I didn't mean that. I take it back. I'm so sorry."

"Don't say those things in front of me, Anakin. You have no idea how they affect me…"

"I do now," he whispered. "I won't say them again." I nodded, his arms wrapping tighter around me. "I'm really, really sorry, Soka."

"It's okay." There was a knock on the door. He glanced down at me and I sighed, pulling away from him. I wiped my eyes and headed for the door. Anakin grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him. One arm wound around my waist as he leaned down to passionately kiss me. There were a few more knocks as he continued to kiss me. I giggled, shoving him off of me. "Whoever it is will be upset, Ani."

"I love you," he whispered, putting a lot of emotion into it. He leaned down once again to kiss me, but it was much shorter than the one before it.

"I love you."

I walked to the door and opened it to see Obi-Wan, out of breath. "Obi-Wan, are you okay?"

"I just ran… all the way down here…"

Anakin reached forward just in time to catch Obi-Wan before he collapsed. "What for?"

"My com isn't working…" he gasped for breath once more before regaining his normal breathing pattern. Anakin and I stared at him, concerned. "Yoda wants to see you both. I thought that since I was here, I could watch the kids for you while you're gone." I nodded as Anakin helped him into the room. He sat Obi-Wan down on our bed, backing away cautiously. "Stop acting like I'm a frail, old man, Anakin."

"You are a frail, old man."

Obi-Wan glared at Anakin as he chuckled, grabbing my hand. He intertwined our fingers and we began to exit the room. "Stop being so cruel to him."

"What?" he laughed. "He knows I'm kidding."

"You're always calling him old."

"You could start calling me old if you really wanted to. I'm almost twenty-eight years old, Snips."

POV: Anakin Skywalker

I glanced down at her as I realized that she was just over twenty years old – as of two months ago. She leaned closer to me. "I don't care how old you are, you're my husband and I love you just as much."

I held her hand tighter. "I'm glad to hear that."

The pain in my chest and restriction in my throat began to return, but I couldn't let it jerk me around. I had to find some way to stop it from – never mind. I clutched my throat, shutting my eyes as the dreaded cough took over. My lungs began to burn and my eyes began to water. "Ani!" I couldn't breathe for a few moments. It was like being trapped beneath a thin sheet of ice covering a lake. Yes, that had happened to me once before because my lightsaber didn't work too well at the time… I felt Ahsoka clutching me tightly, trying to keep me from falling over. I opened my eyes, seeing a blurred vision of her. I could clearly see and feel the terror. The pain slowly began to die down, taking the cough with it. I began to breathe slowly as the cough settled. "Do you want to go lie down?"

I shook my head. My voice sounded horrible when I spoke, "It'll happen either way, Soka. Come on. Yoda wants to see us."

I straightened myself, taking her hand in mine. She stared at me with a deep concern until we reached Yoda's personal quarters. There was a note on the door. Go to the Council chamber. I sighed, shrugging.

We walked slowly down the hallways, enjoying the other's presence. Most of the Jedi we'd acquired has been reluctant to join us due to the relationship Ahsoka and I had and were committed to. Most of them looked down upon the children and I let them know what I thought about their thoughts.

The things they said about Ahsoka had infuriated me and it took both Plo and Obi-Wan to pry me away from the child so I wouldn't kill him. We walked past a group of Padawans that had recently come in, in the last two weeks I believe. "That's her," one muttered.

I extended my hearing as best as I could to hear what they were saying about my wife. "She sure is a beauty. It's too bad she's taken…"

"She has two children with the soon-to-be Grand Master, Jerima, so you wouldn't stand a chance. He'd kill you without thinking twice about it," a girl sighed. "I wish I could have him…"

I smirked. "Why would she want to be with him? I heard he was meant to become a Sith. I feel bad for the children. She deserves so much better."

As true as that was, I was still a bit on edge with others when they mentioned the Sith part of me. I spun around, force-choking him. "You want to see my Sith side? I'll let you see it personally," I growled.

"Anakin!"

"Please, Master, Jerima didn't mean to insult you!" the girl cried. I glanced at her, seeing the fear and desperation in her eyes. She was pleading me to release Jerima and I reluctantly did.

I stared at him angrily as he stared back in fear. Ahsoka grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away from the kids. "I suggest you watch what you say, youngling," I sneered.

"I… I'm s-s-sorry, Mas-Master Skywalker."

"Anakin, come on," Ahsoka whispered beside me. I sighed, turning back to her. She intertwined our fingers again and led me to the Council chambers.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, looking at the floor as we walked. "I'm just tired of being labeled a Sith when I'm not."

"Why haven't you told me that you've been labeled that way? I would have tried to stop the kids from saying it. Ani, why are you keeping things from me?"

"I don't want you to worry about me?" I smirked. She glanced up, raising her eye markings.

"You're doing a terrible job at it, Grand Master Skywalker," she giggled. We stopped outside of the chamber and she put both hands on the sides of my face. "I don't want you keeping anything from me. Even the silliest thing you could imagine, tell me."

I smiled, lifting my free hand to stroke the side of her face. "I don't know about the last part, but all right."

She smirked. "I love you, Anakin. The last thing I need is for you to feel so depressed about what others say that you do something that you'll regret."

I leaned down, kissing her briefly. "I love you, too, and I'll never go that far over something someone says. Sure, I'll be upset," I shrugged. "But I won't kill myself or anyone else because of it."

"I'll be right beside you because I was meant to be a Sith, too, remember?"

I shook my head, smiling at her. "Oh, Ahsoka."

"Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker, the would-have-been Sith Lords."

I chuckled. "All right, come on." I pushed the chamber doors open and was shocked to see what was inside.