Chapter 2

The pale blue house sat right along the edge of a small lake far from the noise of downtown Boston yet close enough that a trip to and from the city would take less than forty minutes. The week leading up to this day, Anakin had spent what time he had looking her up online. She was still practicing law, and even worked for the defense attorney in Boston. Besides the news stories of the cases she had worked on, and a few rumors of her possibly running for public office in the near future, it seemed that she kept a pretty low public profile when it came to personal details. Which made sense given how much he had struggled to find out what had happened to her while he was in prison and also how it had taken some effort from Obi-Wan to locate her current address.

Anakin had let the taxi driver drop him at the mouth of the road that led up to her house. The sun was just starting to rise and the light reflected off the water wrapping the house in a bright halo as he just stood there frozen. He had been so eager to get here that he hadn't taken much thought to how early it really was. He'd considered spending the morning in the city, getting a coffee while he waited until a more reasonable time to just drop by… but once the wheels of the plane had touched down, all thought of a coherent plan evaporated and left him with a primal need to just go to her. He didn't even know if they were awake now. Padme must be, because even on a Sunday, she had always been an early riser. But maybe having kids changed things? He honestly had no idea.

It was fortunate that the house was fairly secluded with the closest neighbor out of sight from Padme's driveway. Had the house been located in any sort of community, he was certain that someone would have seen him and called the cops on him for suspicious behavior. Once more, he looked at the address printed in his phone and cross checked it with the street sign and number on the house. Everything seemed to match up, and the GPS app said he was in the right place and yet he was still terrified that he wasn't. Maybe she had moved once she heard of his release. Maybe this was an old address that was never updated. He didn't know.

And he wouldn't so long as he just stood there. He was here, and he hadn't come all this way just to stand at the foot of her property. Part of him wanted to delay a bit longer, to take more time to gather his thoughts, and maybe rethink the whole showing up unannounced plan that was completely illogical given the circumstances. But another part of him was afraid. So much time had already been lost, and Padme had obviously made an effort to distance herself from him. As irrational as it might seem, this was the only way that seemed to guarantee that he would see her. Anakin closed his eyes as he tried to get his thoughts under control and muster what courage he could. He had come this far, and no matter what, he had to see it through. He let out a shaky breath before he marched to the front door and knocked.

The first knock was loud and he hissed as he made the next two a little quieter, cursing under his breath. From the other side, he could hear a woman's surprise at the unexpected knocks followed by her gliding footsteps to the door. His shoulders sunk in on him as he saw her shadow, and then he flinched as the lock clicked before the door slowly swung open to reveal her. Padme. The love of his life, his Angel, the mother of his children. His jaw fell as he stared at her in awe. She was somehow more beautiful than he remembered. Her eyes went wide when she saw him, her jaw falling open in shock as her knuckles gripped to door tightly. His lips curled awkwardly into a small smirk he hoped was like that roguish smile she used to like, but his face felt tight and he doubted it was was as naturally charming as it once had been. Padme quickly glanced back inside before shuffling out to join him on the porch, carefully closing the door behind her as she wrapped her arms around herself, pulling the heavy blue robe she wore tighter around herself to fight off the cool chill of the morning breeze.

"Anakin," His name fell from her lips in a quiet whisper as if his name were some forbidden word she could finally use. The very sound of her voice sent pleasing shudders down his back that made his legs weak. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

He swallowed as he stuffed his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. "I know I should have maybe called first, but… I just had to see you." He cleared his throat as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "Have you… have you heard? What happened, I mean."

She gave a small nod, "I saw it on the news." She said. "I tried to find if there were any stipulations attached to your release besides being assigned a transition aide. Sometimes those kinds of arrangements have temporary travel restrictions." Her lips pursed as she gave a half shrug, "Though, I should have known that wouldn't stop you," For a moment the corner of her lip popped up in a small smile before it was forced back down as she bit the inside of her cheek. "You never were very patient."

Anakin swallowed as he gave a stiff nod of agreement, "Yeah… well, good news is there aren't any real restrictions. I just— I meet with my case worker maybe once a week. He makes sure I'm okay and everything."

Her eyes focused closely on his face as her eyes narrowed slightly in concentration, "And… are you?" She asked.

He let out a small grunt as he rolled his neck. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the window on the second floor of the house. He couldn't see inside, but his mind drifted to his children. Anakin swallowed stiffly as he slowly forced himself to look at Padme again "Are they… sleeping?" He asked, her previous question forgotten.

She nodded once, not bothering to ask her question again, "I let them sleep in a little on Sundays."

"Have you told them anything? About me?"

Padme gave a small shrug, "A little… nothing about… before." She took a deep breath, "I told them that if it were possible, you would have wanted to be here with us. But that you couldn't."

"Thank you,"

Padme took a breath and shook her head, "I didn't do it for you," She said, "I did it because I didn't want you being a convicted criminal to hang over their heads." She closed her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I know that you aren't— everyone knows that you aren't now. And I'm happy for you. And I am… relieved that I never have to have that conversation with the twins." Her fingers gripped the sleeves of her robe as she took a breath, "But… Anakin… I don't know if… if you being here…"

"You… want me to leave." He finished. "I get it. I just…"

"No, that isn't it at all," She said, reaching for his arm but stopping just short of touching him. She looked at her hand touching the air just above his forearm before she slowly pulled it back. "There was a time when all I ever wanted was to raise a family with you," She began slowly, her eyes finding his again. "But it's been eight years. Our kids are adjusted to having only me. The idea of you being in their lives is something that I haven't considered until recently."

"I'm their father," He said, "All I want is the chance to be there for them."

She smiled sadly at him, "I know. And I want to believe that you'll be a great father to them. I remember how excited you were when I was pregnant. But I know what it can be like for people who are released from prison. I know it isn't an easy transition. And I've seen people get hurt in the process." Padme held her hands up in a calming gesture, "I know this isn't what you want to hear. But I need to know who you are now, before I let you anywhere near our children. I need to know they won't get hurt in all this."

"I swear to you, they won't."

"And I want to believe you," She said, "But this is the real world where bad things can happen to good people and innocent people can get hurt. If we rush into this, someone is going to get hurt and I know that is the last thing you want to happen." This time when she reached for him, her hand just barely touched the exposed skin of his wrist. It was featherlike, and meant as a reassuring gesture, but for Anakin it brought back a flurry of memories from a happier time. "Let me make a few calls, see if the kids can spent time at a friend's house this afternoon. It'll give us more time to talk and plan how this is all going to work out."

Anakin bit back a desperate plea to see his kids, knowing deep down that she was right— she was always right about this kind of stuff— and gave a small reluctant nod as she gave him the address to a small cafe she liked to visit and they agreed to meet there a little after noon. Their short goodbye was awkward, and stiff as Anakin watched her retreat back inside and it took a great deal of effort on his part to pry himself off the porch and make his way back up the street to the intersection where he could call for a ride to take him back into the city. As he waited, he glanced at his watch and began the countdown to their next meeting.