AU. OC.
What if, instead of getting married after the battle of Geonosis, Anakin had been whisked straight off to war? Their love never confirmed, their feelings still left up in the air?
Anakin has been at war for three years. Padme, doing her best to forget their declaration of love all those years ago, is engaged to another man.
Picture it. Anakin gets his arm cut off by Dooku, and instead of escorting Padme back to Naboo, is bandaged up and shipped straight off to the Outer Rim to fight in the Clone Wars. No marriage, no commitment, only the brief, tearful goodbye before he is whisked away forever.
Would Padme stay strong? Would she wait in the hope his love was genuine? And for how long?
This story starts 3 years after the end of AOTC. Padme hasn't seen Anakin since he left her for war, breaking her heart in the process. And a lot can change in 3 years…
*Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not for profit, all owned by George Lucas*
*First story, so be nice! Any constructive criticism or improvement points greatly appreciated*
*This story will have Mature/Sexual themes throughout*
Chapter One: The Ball
All of the best fairy tales end with a ball. What better location to conclude a sweeping romance, an illicit confession, two stars finally colliding? The glitz and glamour. The slight nausea in your stomach at the feeling that tonight, anything can happen. It's no wonder that as a setting, it's such a favourite for authors all over the world.
And that is where our story begins tonight. Our heroine, Padme Amidala, is putting on her new black gown, pinning back her hair, topping up her lipstick. In preparation for the Coruscant Seniority Ball. She, like many heroines before her, can feel that sick feeling in her stomach. That mix of nerves and excitement. Anything can happen. She dismissed her nerves, shaking her head at her own reflection. Don't be silly, she told herself. What could happen tonight? Those sort of events that only seem to happen at balls, the sweeping romance that makes a ball a writer's dream setting. They don't happen to engaged women.
She looked down at her engagement ring, gleaming on her finger like a lighthouse beacon. Just as she twisted it, her fiancé poked his head around the door.
'You almost ready?' he asked with a smile. She shot him a dazzling smile back. 'Of course hun. I'll meet you outside in a second'. When he was gone she shot one final glance at her reflection. She tried to shake off the hint of worry on her face (What was she worried about! What was going to go wrong?! Nothing!) Plus, she could admit it, she looked good tonight. She had forgone her usual elaborate gowns for a simple black (dare she say it) slinky dress, with a slight slit cutting through the silky fabric. She turned to the side and admired her slim body. ('You really need to eat more dear' her mother had sounded concerned last time she had holo-called her. 'I know mum, it's just been so busy at work recently I barely get time.' She didn't mention how stress had been shrinking her appetite lately.)
'Padme!'
She was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of her fiancé calling her name from the foyer.
'Coming!' One last glance in the mirror and she grabbed her bag and left, trying to shake off the gnawing feeling of dread in her stomach. She chastised herself- it was irrational. It was all going to be completely fine. Uneventful. Forgettable even! She would undoubtedly spend the night standing by the buffet with Bail Organa and his wife, trying to avoid Palpatine (and of course failing- he always managed to seek her out one way or another).
At this point in the story, I should provide an explanation of sorts. Now I know why you're on this site. When the words 'Padme' and 'fiancé' are used in the same sentence, I know a certain face naturally comes to the reader's mind. So it will come as a shock when I tell you that the man seated at Padme's right hand in the limo, squeezing her hand and offering her a reassuring smile, is neither blonde nor tanned. No scar runs over his eye. Both his hands are flesh and blood. Instead of bright blue eyes and a cheeky smirk, she is looking at a sensible, older face. Salt and pepper hair, a tidy beard, crow's feet. The kind of face that would reassure you- kindly, with an air of authority.
As you may have gathered, Padme's fiancé is not the Jedi to whom we have become accustomed. No. Senator Padme Amidala nee Naberrie became engaged, at 12.08pm on the 5th of May 17 BBY, at the flavour-of-the-month downtown boutique restaurant Cedarwood, to renowned civil servant Tony Danforth. The happy couple met 6 months earlier while working on the Separatist Trade Decree. Both had a serious disposition, were passionate about human rights and liked long walks in the park. It was a match made in heaven.
Unbelievable right? Well to make matters more confusing, this is not a story set in a timeline where Anakin Skywalker never existed. Quite the contrary. He's alive and kicking. So what, him and Padme haven't met yet? Nope, wrong again! They've met - in fact, Senator Amidala knows him well. And although she won't admit it, memories of him are one of the causes of her nerves tonight.
'We're here.' She is snapped out of her thought by the car drawing to a halt outside of the Coruscant Opera Hall, where the press is situated to snap up the hottest talent in the Galactic Political world. Padme feels pity for all the young journalists who have trained for years, fighting tooth and nail to get a much sought-after position as a holoreporter only to write a mind-numbing piece rating the red carpet looks of a bunch of old men. She notices one particularly chilly-looking young woman attempt to catch the attention of Senator Reiyard and his wife, only to be brushed aside on camera. She didn't envy the young.
'Shall we?' Tony smiled down at her and took her hand. She took a deep breath and climbed up the stairs.
'Senator! Senator!' the flash blinded her.
'Who are you wearing Senator'
'Senator is it true you're engaged?' 'Tony, tell us about the ring!'
She smiled as best she could and let out a sigh of relief when they finally arrived in the foyer.
'The worst is over' Tony whispered in her ear, smiling.
She did feel the knot in her stomach waver a bit, and she smiled back.
'Senator Amidala! Mr Danforth!' the inevitable voice of her safety net for the evening chimed up behind her shoulder. She turned, and low and behold, there he was. The ever-comforting presence of Bail Organa strode towards her, his tiny wife in tow.
'Bail! Wonderful to see you' Tony strode forward and shook Bail warmly by the hand. Padme always noticed a rather striking resemblance between the two men. Both were middle aged, both had dark features and warm, reassuring faces. She would always smirk to herself when they were together- it was uncanny.
(She remembers when she confided this to her sister, Sola, who shrieked in elation. 'So you've basically had sex with Bail? EWWW! I knew you had a thing for older guys Padme, but this is something else!')
'You too Danforth. And may I say how lovely you look tonight Padme'
'Truly beautiful, as always' Breha Organa smiled sincerely at Padme, and making her heart soar. Padme really couldn't like these two more if she tried. Every morning she thanked her stars that at least one member of the cabinet besides herself was sane.
Bail opened his mouth, then his gaze jumped in recognition to another face behind Padme's head.
'well I never! What are you doing here!' his face widened in a smile at the unknown guest.
Padme turned to see who was joining their little party.
And her heart stopped.
Her blood ran cold.
She could feel all the blood rush to her head as she struggled to maintain composure.
Her first thought was – run. Go. He hasn't seen you yet.
But Tony's grip on her arm was preventing her from moving anywhere.
She tried to keep her eyes on the carpet in the mad hope that somehow staying still and silent would make her invisible, like with bears in the wild.
'Wonderful to see you my good man!' Bails long stride brought him to the man's side in seconds, effectively ending any chance of Padme making it through the night unnoticed.
'Senator Organa! I didn't realise you were also a guest of this..' he paused and looked around, '..merry function'.
Bail laughed 'you always have a way with words, Master. Have you met my wife by the way? Breha, this is Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi'.
Tony and Padme were still very much on the outskirts of the conversation (the safe outskirts! The circle of anonymity!), but at the mention of the man's name, Tony edged forward, bringing his frozen fiancé with him. Unaware of the dread in her veins, he turned and mouthed to her. 'A Jedi!' he whispered excitedly. She put on her best 'oh wow!' face, but even she could feel how lacklustre it must have looked.
'And of course you know Senator Amidala!'
Padme wanted to retract every positive word she had thought about Bail earlier that night. The spotlight of recognition was turned on her. She could feel the imaginary beam scalding her skin.
'of course I know the Senator.' Obi Wan smiled. She smiled back, trying not to look into his gaze.
'And this is her fiancé, Tony Danforth of the civil service.' Bail continued to stick his foot even further in his mouth.
Dread ran through Padme's blood as she saw a glimmer of surprise run over Obi Wan's features, then leave as quickly as it had come.
'Nice to meet you Master Jedi' Tony, unawares of the anguish his fiancé was going through beside him, extended his hand.
Obi Wan took it. 'And you sir' A trademark wry smile crossed the Jedi's face as he continued 'any friend of the Senator's is a friend of mine'.
'So you two know each other?' Tony turned to Padme inquisitively.
Fuck.
Her mouth was too dry to speak now!
She felt like a fish behind a tank as all four of their prying faces turned to face her.
'Ah.. yes' she managed, 'Obi Wan and I have been friends for many years'.
Surely that was enough to end this conversation.
'You never told me you were friends with a Jedi!' said her incredulous fiancé. Turning back to Obi Wan, he continued 'she knows that being a Jedi was my childhood dream.'
This comment elicited good natured laughs from all members of the circle.
'Well I can assure you Mr Danforth, it is not as glamourous as it seems' Obi Wan didn't seem flustered at all as he continued. Composure was probably a strong point for a master in meditation, Padme thought. 'why only last week I was sleeping in a tent with 30 other very unclean soldiers'.
Another round of pleasant laughter.
'Oh, so you're fighting in the blockade?' Tony continued. STOP SPEAKING TO HIM Padme wanted to scream!
'Why yes actually, myself and some other Jedi have just returned from the Outer Rim this morning.' Obi Wan stated.
If Padme felt frozen before, her blood ran fully cold now. No. Surely not. Not tonight.
The men continued talking pleasantly, Tony playing the role of an impressed little boy who's met his hero, going into excruciating detail on his role in the blockade's implementation. Obi Wan feigned being impressed.
Padme however couldn't move. She felt like she was a trapped inside her own head. She just kept thinking 'Surely not'. He couldn't be here. She literally could not face that. Her body was almost rejecting the notion of something so awful happening to her, tonight, in front of all her colleagues and her fiancé. The urge to burst into laughter suddenly overwhelmed her, which she had to suppress. This was ridiculous! This had to be a dream. No one sits in a limo, psyching themselves up to the possibility of a bad night where maybe they are caught in an unflattering photograph or a bad conversation, only to arrive in their own personal nightmare. It struck her like an icy blade that she was at the event with her fiancé. What would he say.
She suddenly started to feel sick. Violently sick.
'Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I am not feeling my best. I think I need to check in to the bathroom' she narrowly avoided the urge to heave as she spoke.
Before the men could say anything, she turned and walked at pace, hands shaking, towards any bathroom in the vicinity.
Obi Wan watched her go. Poor Padme. He had seen her go white as a sheet. Well she was in for a nasty surprise for the rest of the night.
Obi Wan had also hoped to get through the night without too much spectacle. He had hoped she wouldn't be here. But here she was. And with a fiancé! A fiancé who was currently babbling on about how tricky it was to negotiate the sub-clauses of the blockade's sewage system. (Not that Obi Wan had noticed anything particularly special about the miserable toilets in the base camp).
Her fiancé. Christ. His heart sunk thinking of the battering his ears were going to have to endure once Anakin found out about this. He had just wanted a quiet evening, then an early night to tuck into the new volume of Force History books he had bought as a post blockade treat. A man can dream.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, things were going no better for Padme. Luckily she had managed to make it into a stall before being violently sick and was currently lying with her head against the cool marble tiles, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart.
No.
That one word reverberated around her head.
No.
This can't be happening.
Maybe it isn't happening! A naïvely optimistic voice inside her head popped up. Afterall, Obi Wan didn't actually say he was here.
She wracked her brains to remember the Jedi's words in the foyer, with the desperation of a starving woman searching for a crumb of bread.
'Some other Jedi and I have just returned from the Outer Rim this morning.'
God. That was what he said. Some other Jedi.
Maybe it wasn't him! The optimistic voice pipped up again.
Oh of course it was him! When did they EVER do missions apart? Padme thought back to the painful times two years ago when she was bombarded with holo-net images of the two heroes of the war, off on another swashbuckling adventure.
Well, if it is him, it doesn't mean he's here.
(This voice was slightly more rational than its naïve counterpart).
Yes! A ray of hope! Maybe he's not back! Or, even if he is, maybe he's not here! Even if he's in Coruscant, that's a problem she wouldn't have to deal with tonight. At a ball. In a black silk dress. With her fiancé.
But why would Obi Wan come to a Senate Ball without him?
She couldn't shake away that other, more sceptical voice. The voice that pointed out that out of the two men, Obi Wan had far less a tendency to mingle with politicians. And that if they had only arrive back this morning, it would be unfair for one of the men to attend and not drag the other with them.
She wanted to scream, to shake all these poisonous thoughts out her head.
3 years. It had been 3 years.
Since she last saw him.
Since they said a tearful goodbye on that landing strip. Before a ship came and whisked him off into the stormy night, leaving her alone.
She couldn't think about it.
It was still too painful.
And god damn it, those memories were successfully boxed away now! It had been three years since she had let the pain of what happened consume her. Since she stopped waiting for him. She was engaged now! She had a new life! And she would be damned if this all came crashing down, here, tonight, in front of all her colleagues.
She hadn't realised she was crying until a tentative knock on the door woke her from her thoughts.
'You OK in there?'
She gulped and wiped her eyes, panicking.
'Yes yes!' her voice cracked as she spoke.
Fuck. She would have to come out now.
She slowly stood up, hands shaking, and unbolted the door.
The concerned face of a young Togruta female greeted her. She dusted down her dress, ashamed to look the kind stranger in the face.
'Bit early in the night to be crying!' said the girl with a warm smile.
Padme couldn't help but laugh. 'I'm so sorry, I'm so embarrassed.' She said.
'Oh my god don't be!' the girl said animatedly. 'I've been in here for the exact same reason!' Padme looked up to see dark smudges under the girl's eyes too.
She laughed.
'We are pathetic!' she said, and the girl warmly agreed.
'That's why I was knocking- couldn't resist the opportunity to lend my trusty mascara to a fellow sister' said Padme's saviour.
She handed Padme a bright blue wand that matched her dress.
'You're an Angel' Padme said with sincerity, daring to look in the mirror and assess the damage. Surprisingly she didn't look too bad. The gods had granted her that one blessing.
'You barely need it anyway' the girl continued, leaning her muscular body against the sink. 'You still look like a model anyway'.
Padme laughed. 'Now I know you must be an angel' she said, smiling warmly.
The girl was remarkable looking. Her body was tiny, but strong. Long lean muscles covered her arms, and a visible six pack could be seen through her sky blue slip dress.
'So why are you crying?' she asked with a bluntness that took Padme aback. 'Let me guess. Boy troubles.' The girl looked down at Padme's finger. 'You're married?'
Padme laughed. 'No, just engaged. And no boy troubles. Just overwhelmed by seeing someone I really didn't want to see.' She pulled a face in the mirror and the girl rolled her eyes in response.
'Ew. I've been there.' She exuded warmth and empathy, making Padme believe she truly might be an angel.
'What about you?' Padme asked.
'Oh I'm just extremely dramatic' the girl laughed, 'I have barely slept in 48 hours, and some old fusty rich man asked me to refill his drink. Like I'm a server! Like they would let a server dress like this!' She gestured to her striking garment.
They were both laughing now.
'I can honestly say that I would happily never see half the people here again' Padme said, truly meaning it.
'Amen to that' said the girl. 'I should introduce myself by the way. I'm Ahsoka'
'Padme' she took her hand warmly.
'Padme?' the girl did a visible double take.
'Yeah?'
'I – um- Padme? Really?' the girl- Ahsoka- looked visibly taken aback.
Before Padme could justify her name to this stranger, a gaggle of teens, dates of the sleazier cabinet members, enters the toilet, already drunk and shrieking.
'Look listen I better go. But I can't thank you enough!' Padme squeezed her hand once more and left the bathroom.
'I know something you don't know' Ahsoka's sing song voice pierced Anakin's ear drums as she danced in front of his line of vision.
He ignored her, pushing her aside and heading to get a drink.
'You're going to want to hear this' she said, speaking to the same little tune.
'I don't care what you know.' He said.
He didn't. He was exhausted. Tired. Sweaty. Drained.
He had arrived back from the Outer Rim 8 hours earlier, after three weeks of lying in a tent, Obi Wan's feet in his face, waking up at 5am for a full day of mowing down droids, only to collapse again, no progress having been made. When they finally got the all clear to go home, the portal-jump facility on their shitty little ship had called it quits an hour into the 16 hour flight, meaning he had to manually pilot the team back to Coruscant, taking no breaks. And to make matters worse, he was whisked straight into medical on return, where they gave him an army shot back and sides haircut and prescribed him medicine for his shoulder wound which reacted with alcohol. So no drinks tonight.
And now he was forced to go to this ridiculous party. With old white men who called him 'my boy' and 'young man' after seeing his tell-tale Tatooine tan (which had only deepened after months in the blazing sun). With the bright lights of Coruscant glaring in his face. Reminding him of things that he didn't want to think about on a good day, let alone after 48 sleepless hours.
So you can understand why his bouncing, singsong Padawan was the last thing he needed.
He reached the bar and filled up his water cup. Maybe his shoulder wasn't that bad. Maybe he could risk it and have a whiskey. He turned to eye up a buxom, giggling blonde girl, and the turn of his head sent a painful twinge down from his wound. He sighed. No whiskey tonight then.
'You won't need to check out her when you hear what I have to say!' his irritating padawan jumped into his line of vision again.
'What!' he snapped.
'I met someone.' She said, eyes wide with excitement (and, if he wasn't mistaken, a twinge of fear.)
'Congratulations. When's the wedding?' he glared.
Ahsoka continued grinning despite his scowl. 'Funny you should mention it- she didn't say when the wedding was' she said, with the same slightly fearful grin on her face.
Don't rise to it Ani. Don't rise to it.
He gave in. 'She?'
He regretted engaging with her almost immediately.
'She.'
'I didn't realise you were into that Snips'
'Oh grow up, everyone's fluid nowadays.' She snapped back. 'definitions are only for the person looking to put you in their narrow boxes'.
'so you came here to talk to me about sexuality?' he said, tuning out rapidly.
'No, to tell you about the girl I met.'
'Ah well I'm happy for you' he said, his eyes scanning the ballroom. Whoever Ahsoka was fucking tonight was certainly none of his business.
'You should be.' She wasn't letting this one go. 'she's beautiful'.
He wasn't listening now.
'Big brown eyes. Long dark thick hair. Insane body. Like tiny yet curvy. This smile that makes your heart feel like you could explode with hope and joy'
'Jesus Snips calm down'
'No seriously master, I can see why you fuss about her so much'
He groaned. Don't engage! His inner voice told him.
He was too tired to follow his own good advice.
'what? Who do I fuss on?' he was confused, irritated, and irritated at being confused.
'Padme.'
His eyes darted to her.
'what.'
'Padme! Well I think that was her name' Ahsoka looked at him clean in the face.
Anakin looked at his hands, then back at the rapidly filling ballroom, deciding to ignore her.
'Well master?' said Ahsoka.
'You don't know what you're talking about Ahsoka' he said, continuing to stare off into the distance.
'What! What's so special about me meeting a girl called Padme?'
He looked at her now, raising an eyebrow.
'You met a girl called Padme?'
'yes.'
He scoffed and gazed back at the ballroom.
'Master?'
He shook his head, laughing, and looked back off into the distance.
'What's so funny'
'I just don't believe you sometimes' he said, gazing off while ignoring his rapidly beating heart. His flesh hand was suddenly sweating.
'You don't believe I met a girl called Padme in the bathroom'.
He ignored her.
'You don't believe she was gorgeous and kind? Or that she's still here right now?'
To this, he turned back to face her.
'Look Snips, we are both tired. Shattered. I can deal with you most nights, but tonight, I could really do without this'.
'But-' she was interrupted by Obi Wan arriving.
'Jesus. I need a stiff drink' the older man said.
'Amen to that' Anakin reiterated.
Ahsoka shook her head. She had warned him!
Padme scanned around the ballroom, until her eyes latched on to the tall figure of Bail, and, beside him, the smaller figure of her fiancé.
She took a breath, feeling slightly more composed since her meeting with the Benevolent stranger (or so she was telling herself).
She went up to Tony and squeezed his arm, drawing herself into the circle.
Hide me, her gesture said. Conceal me, as she linked her arm through his.
Tony didn't pick up on any of this.
'Oh! My dear, you have returned!' his voice, louder than normal, piercing her ears as he spoke in a jovial tone.
She noticed the half-drunk glass of red wine in his hand.
'Apologies everyone', she said, forcing a confident stand and breezy smile that was a far cry from her inner stress. 'Must have been something off in our dinner last night hun'.
She squeezed her fiancé's arm. Thankfully, he wasn't really listening, too busy eyeing up a voluptuous blonde in a tight green backless dress who was hanging off the arm of a Congressman who was approximately 50 years her senior.
She tried to calm her nerves, listening to Breha Organa's tale about a prawn dish that her and Bail had suffered through last week. Could she believe it, they had been in bed for four days! Four days! Did she know that the last time Breha had been ill had been after her graduation (Too much strawberry gin apparently).
But her mind kept wondering. Her stomach was still in knots, her heart still beating at a pace that was noticeably quicker than normal. How she longed for the relief of a heartbeat that would slip inconspicuously into her subconscious and be taken for granted! Waking up this morning, unaware of the trials and tribulations she would later face, seemed a lifetime ago.
She made a mental note that if she, by some miracle, made it through tonight with no further scrapes, she would.. hmm. Visit her family? No, that's actually enjoyable. Finish the Drunjer proposal. No, she wouldn't subject her fellow Senators to the 5 hours of dense theory required in that particular problem. She knew it! She would address slavery with Palpatine. Bite the bullet. Put her foot down. Refuse to work with any planets with active (or, fuck it, inactive) slave networks. He wouldn't be happy. He would try and sweet talk her out of it, with all his usual sleaze and slime. But she made a pact in her head with the universe, there and then. Get me out of tonight and I will be brave from now until eternity.
'Senators! Wonderful to see you'
She groaned. Tonight was fast becoming a case of 'speak of the devil'. Or, more accurately, think of the devil and lo and behold..
'Chancellor Palpatine' Tony, emboldened by the wine that was now in danger of staining his teeth, stepped forward. 'Quite the event you've got here'.
'And the robe to match!' added Padme, feeling a rush of boldness too. She smiled sweetly, casting her eyes of Palpatine's rich white velvet cloak, with gold embroidery than matched the thick Opera House carpet. The carpet matched the drapes; and both screamed decadence.
Palpatine laughed heartily, unnerving Padme who caught his eyes and noticed his gaze was still cold. 'Oh Senator Amidala, I take that compliment very highly from a woman as renowned for her style as you. And tonight- no exception!' He took Padme's hand and made her twirl for the circle like a debutant in front of her father's golfing friends. She felt suddenly ashamed of the slit, the silk, even the legs beneath.
'Lovely' he murmured, almost to himself. Then 'and I think this is the most skin she's ever shown! You're a lucky man Danforth!'
Tony, who had been gazing at the chocolate fountain in the ballroom up ahead, reengaged with the conversation at the mention of his name.
'wha- ah yes. She's lovely' he smiled his usual calming smile. Never fear, Danforth's here. The great peacemaker of Alderaan. (of course he also hailed from Bail's native planet. The two even realised they had attended the same annual summer camp as social awkward teens. 'No wonder we never met, I stood in the corner phoning home and crying for the full month!' Tony had joked.)
'Well hurry now, they are about to start the first dances!' Palpatine's face lit up with merriment as he hurried the couples towards the dance floor. Padme notice, looking closer, that his eyes were still cold.
'The dances! Now my love, what could go wrong on the dancefloor!' Tony did a little box step, flailing his arms and eliciting chuckles from the rest of the group.
Padme realised quickly that he was rather drunk. Excellent. Just what she needed tonight.
(Although on the bright side, maybe a drunken, mellow Tony was less likely to remember the night if anything, ahem, went wrong.)
They entered the Ballroom of the Opera House. Padme had to admit it- it was a dazzling spectacle.
The chairs had been cleared away, leaving a vast expanse of polished wood lit up under the waterfall teardrop structure of the Valencian chandelier. This piece was world famous; it was so intricate in its detail that the four glass artists who designed it had all gone blind. Although Padme strongly opposed venerating suffering as a mark of great art, even she was awed when she notices the figures of glass water nymphs tumbling down the sea spray tear droplets, casting magical shadows on the floor below. Ahead of them was a grand stage, where a full Orchestra was playing a waltz for the first couples who were brave (or drunk) enough to already be on the floor. The left wall, usually coloured by a white velvet curtain that looked suspiciously like Palpatine's cloak, was exposed, showing a ceiling to floor glass window. The lights from the city below cast their own conflicting shadows on the wayward dancers, sparring with the ancient chandelier for dominance of the dancefloor.
Across the room, Anakin felt like he was hallucinating. The whirling lights around him were not having the desired effect of casting his mind into an otherworldly grotto. Spinning yet bright, soft yellows mashing with neon blues, it was all making his head spin. He needed to leave. He needed to be in bed.
He was considering going to lie down on a bathroom floor for a subtle nap when a voice chimed up beside him.
'care to buy a girl a drink?'
It was the curvy blonde from earlier.
He sighed. He really wasn't in the mood.
'Always' he said, making her blush with his signature smirk. His line was unimaginative, but he didn't care- his heart wasn't in it.
Ahsoka had thrown him off guard with her earlier nonsense about Padme. How did she know about her? Sure he talked about her, sometimes, but he had never told anyone he...
He stopped himself. Not tonight Ani.
He sighed. It was probably obvious that he was sensitive about her anyway. He knew his Palawan noticed his glow whenever the Senator was mentioned.
He cursed inwardly. Stop going down this same ridiculous road. It was these damn lights, messing with his head.
'Anakin.' His former master returned to his side. He groaned. Why won't everyone leave him alone tonight.
'What's up master?' he said, 'Missing me already? 16 hours on a ship together not enough quality time for you?'
The girl at the bar had by now lost interest (maybe when her promised drink had yet to materialise) and wondered off to find a richer man.
'That's right Anakin' his master said with a straight face, clearly as happy to be here as Anakin was. 'I have made my way around everyone at this event and none could even rival the wit and charm of you. So here I am. Yours for the evening.'
Anakin glowered at his master's sarcasm.
'Well don't let me tether you back master, I'm sure Chancellor Palpatine is around somewhere. He could fill you in on all the numerous ways we failed to enact his ridiculous plan at the blockade if that's more fun for you'.
'I have just seen the Chancellor' Obi Wan retorted, too tired to even really listen to his former Padawan. He did owe him this curtesy, however. He took a deep breath, already wanting to unsay the words that hadn't even left his mouth yet. 'He was at the entrance with Senator Organa…' he paused. Here goes. '…and Senator Amidala.'
For the second time that evening, Anakin's head snapped up.
'what.'
'I thought I would warn you that she's here.'
Anakin couldn't think. So he spoke instead. 'why would you need to warn me? What do I care if she is here?' he quickly retorted.
(She's here! Inside his brain lights flashed, sirens wailed, his cells dissolved into loose concealed puddles, forgetting their original form and purpose.)
'Look this is nothing to do with me. Care, don't care- it's on you. I just wanted to warn you' Obi Wan took a long sip of his whiskey, rolling his eyes behind the crystal glass. Anakin really was a child sometimes.
'well thanks. It was unnecessary, but thanks.'
On that note, Anakin stormed away.
Obi Wan turned to the bar man. 'Make my next one a double' he said, smiling to himself. He really was unappreciated.
Padme was standing near the chocolate fountain, waiting for a now fully drunken Tony to dip his third marshmallow into its stream.
'Bai-il' Breha playfully tugged at her husband's sleeve 'I want to da-ance'.
She had clearly had a few wines too.
'One minute my dear. We agreed that after Tony's done at the fountain, we would all go for a dance together' Bail smiled apologetically at Padme over his tiny wife's head.
Padme felt embarrassed. Of course Bail was painfully sober to witness her humiliation. She could also tell that Breha was getting a bit sick of moving around the Ball as a four headed monster. But tough luck! She knew she was outstaying her welcome as members of their party, but she didn't care. She needed the Organa's as a shield in case she was faced with a less than desirable turn of events. Breha would have to wait until the Winter Senate Ball for her magical night of romance with her husband. By then, Padme vowed to have fled the country and joined a Green Peace corp in Naboo, living in a field and never going to a Ball of any sort ever again.
'Marshmallows for everyone!' Tony stumbled back, four sticks of dripping marshmallows placed precariously between his fingers.
'Oh God Tony!' Padme lurched forward to stop him falling into a waiter, as he skidded slightly back, dropping marshmallow sticks 2 and 3 to the ground.
'Bail, I love this song!' Breha tried to hide the pointed tone in her voice. Bail and Breha were frustrated now, clearly wanting to distance themselves from the adult playpen by the fountain.
Just as Padme was about to cry, she turned across the ballroom. And stopped.
Anakin was on his way out. He couldn't deal with this today. His shoulder was aching, his sunburn was rubbing against his heavy black tunic, and he was so tired he could faint. He could not even open the box of emotion that was threatening to spill over when he thought of the fact that Padme Naberrie, PADME NABERRIE, was here at this very event. He pushed his way past the blonde girl from earlier, who was draped across an oil tycoon with a slicked back toupee. The exit was in sight! If only he had kept his eyes down, he would have been in a commandeered car on his way back to bed by now.
But he didn't. He looked up.
And, standing by the chocolate fountain in the corner, holding up a slightly plump older man with marshmallows between his fingers like Wolverine's claws, was Padme.
Anakin was floored. Stopped in his tracks. It was like nothing else existed. The room was cleared, the building evaporated, the light stilled and focused on the creature in front of him.
Padme.
She was painfully beautiful. He didn't realise someone could change so much in 3 years while looking exactly the same. Her deep brown eyes looked even more sensually cat like than before. Her long chestnut hair cascaded down the exposed skin on her back. It was styled smoother than last time he had seen her, when she wore her natural curls. In the light, it looked richer than the flow of chocolate to her right, which looked like rusty water in comparison. He gulped as he noticed the slinky cut of her dress, his cheeks reddening at the slit exposing her long legs. Her hips had filled out, yet her waist got even more petit than last time he had seen her. On that docking strip. He could feel his eyes clouding over. Fucks sake Skywalker this can't be happening. He suddenly wanted to run away. But somehow, he could feel his treacherous feet propelling him forward. Forward, through the crowds. Still he was standing in front of her.
There he was.
Of course he was here.
Padme felt strangely calm for a minute.
Then, remembering the chocolate covered man currently using her as a crutch, she panicked.
Please don't see me, please don't see me.
He was walking towards them.
In a futile attempt to clean up Tony, she grabbed a napkin from a passing waiter and tucked it over the chocolate stain in his shirt.
'Ah look who it is' Bail sounded distinctly less enthusiastic than he had been at the start of the night when he spotted Anakin approaching their undesirable circle.
Padme literally couldn't lift her head. It was like she was paralysed and had lifted out of her own body to observe the scene from above.
'Good evening Senators' Anakin bowed awkwardly.
Noticing his lightsabre and tunic, Breha forced a smile 'Ah, another Jedi!' she said, making eyes at Bail that pleaded for them to leave.
Padme still couldn't look up!
'Good evening Senator Amidala' his silky voice lifted her paralysis, and slowly, she looked up.
'I..' her voice was the next sense to call it quits as she looked into the face of Anakin Skywalker.
He was quite something. Her cheeks, bright red since the moment she had spotted him across the room, continued to burn as she noticed how chiselled his face looked. He was a deep golden tan, and his hair had been cut even shorter than it was in the Lake Country.
She had never seen someone so gorgeous. This new, grown up man made every nerve in her body stand on end while her brain was still panicking trying to form a sentence.
Bail rolled his eyes, realising that he was going to have to carry the conversation once again. Breha nodded for them to leave, and he was tempted to take her cue, before Padme managed to spit out two stumbling words.
'Hi Anakin'.
She looked into his bright blue eyes and for a moment the world stopped. The sheer force of the emotion she felt almost knocked her back. 3 years. 3 years, and one glance into those damned eyes and she was straight back there.
She was startled out of her trance by a whirl wind of blue crashing into Anakin's muscular shoulder (how had he got so big? 3 years was a long time, she thought).
'Mind your step there master! Someone might knock you down one of these days!' the cheerful voice of her bathroom friend, Ahsoka, startled Padme's brain into gear. Still blinking cluelessly, she opened her mouth, deflecting the immense shock of seeing Anakin into the smaller one of being reunited with her saviour. (She wished the ground would open and reunite her with another Saviour right now, come to think of it).
'Oh hey, Padme!' Ahsoka was suddenly hugging her, shaking her awake.
'Ahsoka!' she rejoiced as a full word was produced from her mouth. 'How are you?'
'Oh I'm good thanks babe. Been helping myself to some Mojitos courtesy of George Washington Senior over there'. She winked and wiggled her fingers in a flirtatious wave at an old rich man in a powdery wig who was looking a bit lost by the bar.
Padme laughed. 'Good to see you're back on your feet then!' (A sentence! Thank you Lord!)
'And I see you have met my Master!' Ahsoka playfully punched Anakin in the shoulder, and he visibly winced, clutching what Padme could now see was a bandaged arm to his chest.
'Thanks for that Snips' he said.
'Oh shit sorry' she looked genuinely regretful, turning to Padme. 'He hurt his shoulder at the blockade didn't you master? Men eh- can't be trusted to do anything right!'
'You're wounded Ani?'
He looked up in shock at his nickname on her lips.
He spoke slowly. 'It's nothing really.' Looking down, the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips, he corrected his accidental modesty. 'Well not nothing- I was sliced by a droid'
'While trying to kill him for driving over our lunch rations with his drone' Ahsoka chimed in.
The glare she got from her master shut her up quickly.
'so do you two know each other?' Padme was incredulous now.
'Of course- silly me I hadn't made the connection yet!' Padme was amazed at how much energy this girl had.
Ahsoka continued 'this is my Jedi Master, Anakin Skywalker' she rolled her eyes at his title. 'And this is the hottie I met in the bathroom earlier that I was trying to tell you about earlier master, but you didn't LISTEN' she smirked in his face. 'Padme…sorry Padme I don't know your last name' she trailed off.
'It's OK Ahsoka, we know each other' Padme took a breath and looked up into his piercing eyes.
Her lips parted as she was again blown away by how good he looked.
'Yeah Snips, Senator Amidala and I are old friends' Anakin explained with a smirk that didn't reach his sad eyes.
The use of her formal title shocked Padme back to reality, breaking the connection between them. Suddenly the pain of the last 3 years flooded over her like a wave, causing her to gasp.
She couldn't do this.
'I have to go' she managed to spit out, turning on her heel and running from the spinning lights of the ballroom.
'Wait!' Anakin began to chase after her, but Ahsoka grabbed his hurt shoulder.
'What now Snips!' he turned and yelled at her.
She was slightly taken aback. 'Leave her! She probably wants to see her fiancé anyway-'
'Would you please shut the fuck up' Anakin's tone cut into her like a knife as he stormed out of the ballroom too.
The blue lights of the city cast a shadow on the window of her limo as Padme Naberrie drove home. Tony was passed out on the seat beside her, snoring slightly, completely unaware of the night she had had. As she gazed out onto the hundreds of spots of lights from the thousands of windows, she wondered about all the other people sitting up late at night, crying about their fates like she was now. She could feel the sobs wrack her body. She couldn't believe it.
He was back. Back in Coruscant. Back in her life. She felt a fresh wave of tears as she thought of his beautiful smile as they laughed together all those years ago, the lake country sun pounding on her face and making her giddy. Of the way his lips felt against hers, gently caressing her like the wind off the lake. Of promises made after Geonosis. Wait for me. Of sitting in her lonely apartment, engulfed in the solitude of the same blue city lights that witnesses her misery now, waiting for a call that never came. For 2 years. Until eventually she gave up.
And now he was back.
She felt Tony stir beside her. She suddenly wanted to do something, literally anything, to make this pain go away. She had the sudden urge to reach through the partition and grab the wheel from the driver, plummeting them all to a fiery demise. No. Her stirring husband posed a better release.
'Hey baby' she ran her hands over his firm body as he roused from his drunken stupor.
'Pad-Padme?' his breath smelled of sweet liquor. She tried not to gag for the second time that evening.
'I want you now' she whispered, running her lips across the slightly sagging skin under his ear and winding her fingers into his greying hair.
'ooh my' he raised an eyebrow drunkenly, and attempted to spin her over onto the backseat, failing and falling onto the carpeted floor of the car.
Padme's mind was racing now. She could hear the blood roaring in her ears as she climbed onto his lap, kissing him and reaching into the front of his suit trousers to pump his flaccid penis with her still slightly shaking hand.
He responded with gusto, shoving his warm tongue into her mouth and causing her to gasp at the intrusion.
Within seconds he was hard and attempting to flip her over again on the floor.
Padme didn't care if the driver heard. Fuck it, she would roll down the windows and let the all the sad blue women behind their fishbowl windows hear too.
He was inside her. Pushing up the silky fabric of her stupid dress, he began thrusting wildly. 'Fuck yeah, you're so fucking fit' he panted, saliva falling into her face.
She stopped even pretending as he quickened his pace, cries of 'God damn' and 'I'm the King', distracting her as warm tears rolled silently down her face. When he finally came in a warm spurt, he collapsed on to her and was asleep in minutes.
Padme rolled him off her and lay on the floor, listening to the whooshing sounds of the vehicles below them. And the pitter patter of the rain.
'Yes, yes, oooooh yeah yeah yeah!' Anakin laid back and furiously pounded into the splayed ass of the curvaceous blonde who he had so graciously not bought a drink earlier. Her green dress was discarded on the floor, ripped in shreds, as he rammed his cock into her at speed. It hadn't taken much to get back to hers. She was already trashed on the oil tycoon's liquor. All he had to do was flash the trusty smirk and she was putty in his hands. He reached out his metal hand and smacked her ass, and, when she shrieked, he slowly inserted his metal thumb into her waiting asshole as he continued to fuck her relentlessly. 'oh my god oh my god you are so incredible' she was quacking now, but he wasn't even close. 'Would you shut up' he said between thrusts. He was being an asshole. And he didn't give a fuck. Soon, he could feel her trembling around his thick length, and so he pulled out and stroked himself until he came on her waiting chest.
She smiled and panted. He lay back, amazed he had the stamina to do that since he couldn't remember the last time he had slept.
His heart hurt.
He hated himself for what he had done, for how he had been all night. For how he had been to her.
He had seen her again. The most beautiful woman in the world. The last thing he thought about before falling into a deep sleep was the deep brown of Padme's eyes.