Depa POV

WC: 2499

Reception

Everyone filled into the pavillion close to the rose garden next to the lake. The DJ was there already set up. "Hello, Everyone," he said, "and welcome to the reception of the Skywalker wedding. The long tables are for the wedding party, but the rest of the guests are invited to mingle. I believe The Skywalkers will get done taking pictures in a minute, and then dinner will be served."

For a few awkward minutes, the Senators, the Jedis, and the clones all stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Then a two brave men met each other in the middle of the room.

"Im Bail. I have worked with Padme for years" said Senator Organa. "And I adopted her daughter after she died."

"Pleasure to meet you. Im Qui-Gon Jinn. I found Anakin on Tatooine and brought him to Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi Knight."

After that people started to greet each other, and comment on how they knew the couple. Just then a big hand touched my shoulder and pulled me around. There was a gungan in Senatorial garb.

"Hello, Messa Jar-Jar Binks."

"Hi, I'm Master Depa."

Just then the MC of the wedding came over the speakers and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce to you for the first time Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his lady Padme Amidala-Skywalker!"

Then there came cheering from the front, and everyone got to their feet. Anakin and Padme came in hand in hand. Anakin wore his dark brown ceremonial Jedi robes, and Padme had on a beautiful white wedding dress with a lace veil. They looked beautiful together.

Anakin lead Padme to the center of the dance floor and nodded to the DJ. A soft melody as he began to twirl her around to the music. Many people thought that Padme picked the song out that they danced to but it was Anakin who had thought that the lyrics resonated with his need for Padme while he was Vader. "She will still torment me Calm me, hurt me Move me, come what may." The simple agony described the way he felt without Padme so well. It explained that he was a monster without her, and he needed her like air. Padme would always be his angel. When the music ended, he kissed her on the lips.

Next, the DJ said it was the dance of the bride and the father of the bride. Jobal came up and took Padme by the hand and led her to the dance floor. The music started, and it was a little country song that Padme had picked out, one she always wanted to play at her wedding. "I loved her first, I held her first, and a place in my heart will always be hers…" They swayed and danced to the song until it came to an end and he placed a kiss on her head.

Afterwards the DJ called for the groom and his mother to the floor. Quietly, Qui-Gon got up and escorted Shmi to the dance floor. I did not know how they were going to do this because Shmi still was not healed from her death, but Anakin knew that. He took her arms and placed them on his shoulders and he put his arms around her waist. The slow song started and everyone watched as slowly Anakin and Shmi lifted off the ground. They floated in the sky as the song played "You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say, yes you'll be in my heart, always, always." When the song ended Anakin put Shmi on the ground and Qui-Gon took her back to their seats.

Then a server came to say that dinner was served. Everyone took their seats and began to eat their soups and salads. They talked amongst themselves mainly about how beautiful the wedding was. Anikan and Padme made their way through the crowd thanking people as they went.

Finally, they got to sit down, and Rex stood up and went to the mike by the band. "Hello everyone now that dinner has been served I'll start the toast. I was born on Kamino and I had a number and a purpose, to die in combat. When I got assigned to General Skywalker, who was young and kind of a hot head, I thought we were gonna die quickly. But the General is smart and courageous, won't send you anywhere he won't go. He treats you like a man, not a clone but a man. He asked me to be his best man, and I can not think of a higher honor. Now I know it all went to hell because of Palpatine, but in my book your aces general. I wish you and the missus a lifetime of happiness. You deserve it sir!"

Everyone clapped as he sat down and Ashoka got up. "Hi everyone, I am Ashoka Tano. I was Anakin's padawan learner in the clone wars, and I have a story to tell. You see I kind of knew something was up between these two during the war because Anakin kind of became a different person when we were on Naboo for some reason. He was always happier and was always more protective of the senator than anyone else, not that I was jealous at all. Anyway, when I died and met Obi-Wan he told me everything. So when Anikan died I naturally assumed they were going to get back together and I started planning a wedding. So they came back from their first date and I had wedding veils all planned out for Padme to just pick one. She said and I quote, "I don't trust him." I rolled my eyes and said "your gonna call off the wedding, then your going to 'take it slow', your going to fall in love by your second date, and I will have a week to plan the wedding." Well, we all know the story they fall madly in love, and about three weeks later they called me and said they set a date. It was in three months. I almost killed them. Anyway thanks to Jobal, Sola, Satine, Shmi, and I, we got it all done. Congratulations Anakin and Padme."

As she took her seat she nodded to Obi-Wan, who kissed Satine on the cheek then stood up and raised his glass. "I met these two when I was a Padawan on one of the weirdest missions I have ever known. Padme was an ambitious handmaiden who turned out to be the queen of an entire planet at the age of 14, and Anakin was a rambunctious pilot full with the force and questions. When my master asked me to train the chosen one, I felt overwhelmed and honored. By the time he turned into a teenager there were times when I thought I was going to kill him, and other times I thought we were going to die because of his stupidity. But we made it. I think we can all go around blaming each other and ourselves for Palpatine's rise and there's a little truth to both, but now is the time for happiness. I was happy training Luke, who is just like his father smart, bold, inquisitive, and a little headstrong but I love him like a grandson. Padme, I think Anakin is the most at peace when he is in your presence, and he will do anything for you always remember that. Anakin, you are not alone and you are the strongest when your surrounded by people you love and people who love you. I love you both."

Everyone was in tears as Obi-Wan took his seat. I could see a man from the opposite end of the table stand up and raise his glass. "Hello Everyone," he said in a deep voice, "I am Ruwee Naberrie, Padme is my little girl. Well she is a young woman now, but all the fathers in the room know that they are always are little girls. I will be brief. We lost Padme to a mysterious illness when she was young and turns out pregnant with our grandchildren. Then when we died she told us the story of Anakin and the sith. As a father, I was furious that Anakin had kept his relationship a secret and then to destroy Padme like that. I vowed never to forgive him. When Anakin joined the force, I forbade Padme to see him, but she saw him anyway. Soon, they were dating. One day, Anakin came alone asking to talk to me one-on-one. He said he wanted to do this right and asked for my blessing to marry Padme. I said no. He came back a week later, alone again, and asked to talk to Jobal and me. He explained a plan he had to protect him and Padme from the Sith, and a plan that explained what to do if the Sith got a hold of him again as Darth Vader. The plan protected Padme, and some parts came at the expense of Anakin. That is the kind of man he has become a self-sacrificing father who will protect his family at the expense of himself, and that's all I want for my little girl. Anakin you are welcome any time, and if you need anything, just let me know. Raise a glass to my little girl and her Jedi knight. I wish them a lifetime of health and happiness."

Everybody clapped as Ruwee took his seat, and soon Shmi got up with her cane and walked to the mike. Her voice was clear and soft as she said "Hello everyone. I am so happy that this day finally came. When Ani was born I was in a Hutt palace, and the medical droid said he would starve to death within the month. I named him Anakin because the name means "warrior" and you have to be a warrior to survive on Tatooine. So he grew and thrived until the Jedi came and he won his freedom. I missed a few years of his life, but then I joined the force which was weird but soon I learned that we got to see what happened on the physical plane. I saw his marriage to Padme, his training of Ashoka, his successes on the battlefield, his fall to the dark side, and his sacrifice to save Luke. I am so proud of him of his failures and his success. He is my son and he deserved a life better than a life of a slave, and now he is happy and I am so proud. I love you." Shmi started crying as she hobbled over to hug her son. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked her over to her chair.

When everyone was done clapping, Jobal, Padme's mother stood up and raised her glass. "Well," she started, "Right before the clone wars started Padme came home, and I knew something was wrong because… she never comes home." Everybody laughed. "And she brought a boy. Anakin was tall smart polite and could not take his eyes off her. Well Ruwee took him outside to give the "How do we keep my daughter safe talk" while the girls stayed inside and helped me in the kitchen. Well, Sola starts teasing Padme about Anakin and Padme keeps insisting 'he is a Jedi nothing is going to happen between us'. Well look where we are. Anakin I know you will keep her safe, and Padme your job is to keep him on the straight and narrow. If you can do that there is nothing stopping you, congratulations."

After Jobal sat down, Anakin got up and raised his glass. He took a deep breath and began, "First of all I would like to thank everyone for coming out and celebrating with us this evening. It was my idea to keep the marriage a secret and I am so glad I can give this to Padme. She deserves a proper wedding so thank you. When my mother died, I promised Padme that I would be so powerful I would learn to stop people from dying. Well, if there is a way to live forever, I don't want it. I spent almost twenty three years living without her. Now I see that she is the only good in me. What she sees in a monster like me is anyone's guess. I truly am the luckiest guy in the galaxy." He helped her to her feet then gave her a kiss on the mouth. "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to do that," he said, then he sat down.

Padme remained standing and she took the mike from Anakin. "Hey everyone. Welcome to my wedding. I would not have traded my first wedding for anything, but to have everyone here and to hear all of these stories it has been amazing. So I want to tell the story of the time I first knew I loved Anakin. The planet Naboo was blockaded and they were going to kill me, so I switch places with my royal bodyguard. Not even the Jedi knew that I was the real queen. So we leave the planet but the ship is damaged so we land on this dust ball called Tatooine. I want to explore, so I go with them into town, and about five minutes down the road I want to go back. We go into this junk shop that is gross, its hot, its weird, and it smells. This Toydarian, which is a gross wing creature flies in my face, and then the jedi goes off with it. Then this little boy comes in and he is cleaning something. He looks at me, then he goes back to cleaning, then he looks at me, then he goes back to cleaning. Finally, he asks 'Are you an Angel?' And I am like, okay I love you and I am taking you home. Ten years later someone wants to kill me again, and the same little boy comes to rescue me. But, he is not a little boy anymore, he is a tall, dark and handsome Jedi Knight. I fell head over heals and the rest is history."

She walked over and kissed him and we all cheered for them. Everyone meangeled until it was time for them to leave. Anakin hugged Ashoka, his mom, and his mother in law, and shook hands with his father in law, Rex, and Obi-Wan. Padme cried and hugged everyone she saw. Suddenly, Anakin was by my side and he whispered thanks in my ear. I hugged him and said good luck as they raced hand in hand to their land speeder. They were taking it to Theed then going to Lake Country for their honeymoon. I throw rice as they take off trying to ease the bad feeling in my mind.