Padme stared at the tall, athletic
form of Anakin as he silently slid on his robes, trying hard not to wake
his wife up.
"Don't look at me, please," he told
her.
She giggled, enjoying the sight of
him before her. "Why not? Can your wife no longer enjoy simply watching
you? Or have you gotten bashful during your time on the front."
He turned, his eyes cold and angry.
The sight of them cut her laughing short. He was serious.
"Don't talk about the front lines,"
he snapped, lacing up his black boots.
"Annie, what happened?" she asked,
running her hands through his blonde hair. "Are you all right?"
He shook his head, evidently trying
to calm himself, "Padme, you haven't seen what's going on out there.
I couldn't wait to get home. You always relax me. You're so
beautiful. I spent my time at the front fighting Rebels from Tatooine...mmm
Padme...I dreamed of coming back to you for months."
"You never sent me a communique,"
she replied, bitterness lacing her voice.
He looked hurt, and moved away from
her encircling embrace. She could feel herself mentally moving towards
him, and only finding pain.
"You don't want to know what happened
on the front, Padme. It's safe to say, however, that the Jedi are
well on their way to extinction."
"That can't be true, the ten thousand..."
"The ten thousand? The ten thousand!
Padme, the ten thousand are barely one thousand anymore. Creatures
are capable of such cruelty..."
"Anakin, what..."
"I will not speak of this any more,"
he shouted suddenly, and went back to concentrating on his boots.
What had happened to him? Again,
there had been rumours of atrocities, both committed by, and on, the Jedi.
Had he witnessed this? Tatooine. Had he seen his stepfather?
Brother? She looked up at Anakin, and his face was white, his eyes
locked on her. He could read every one of her thoughts.
She forced a smile onto her face,
"So, how did you find this place?"
At the temple, she had been surrounded by
guards. Dressing her in simple robes, the two of them had snuck out
and had stolen a speeder. He had brought her to this cavernous, grotto-like
building, which seemed for all intents and purposes, abandoned, until he
had led her to this room. It had obviously been occupied by Anakin
for some time. A photo of Padme lay on a table, next to one of Shmi.
A pile of wires sat in one corner with some spare parts in a half-finished
repair project. An array of toys and shapes sat along the table,
ready to be moved mentally as Anakin practiced his psychokinetic abilities.
"I find Obi-Wan's presence to be stifling
at times. During one of my talks with Chancellor Palpatine he offered
me this room in his state building."
As if she'd been struck by a Kaminoan
sabre dart herself, Padme leapt off the bed. "This is part of Palpatine's
state building?"
"What's wrong?" Anakin asked.
"He's the one who tried to kill Bail,
and he probably will try to kill Dorme and I as well, if he hasn't already
got to her..."
"So it's Bail now, is it?" He sneered,
then turned away, "Don't be silly, Padme. He would never do that.
He's my friend, a mentor to me. Like the father I never had."
"What about Obi-Wan?"
At the mention of his master's name,
Anakin let out a sharp growl, "He does nothing except pull me down.
I cannot talk to him unless I need to double check a rule. He knows
nothing."
"And Palpatine does?" Padme spat,
"You're still a naive little boy if you seriously believe he has your best
interests at heart..."
"I am not a child!" Anakin barked,
"And the Chancellor has the Republic's interests at heart. Unlike
you Senators he actually plans to do something about the problems of the
galaxy."
"So he destroys any semblance of democracy
left and starts enacting stupid laws. You know he's planning to take
over the outer rim planets? Send in troops, take them over...including
Tatooine."
She began to slide into her dress
jerkily, concentrating on tying up her cuffs. When she looked up,
Anakin stood over her, the face that had been so loving an hour ago now
made of stone. She had never realized how much taller he was than
her, how much more muscled he was. He was now dressed entirely in
black leather, dark, like his blue eyes had become.
"Good," he sneered.
"Good? Anakin, how can you say
that? Palpatine tried to kill...Organa, because he and I disagreed
with his decision to send Stormtroopers over Tatooine and force them to
join the Republic!"
"If Tatooine was part of the Republic,
I never would have been born a slave, my mother would not have been a slave,
I would have been trained as a Jedi, and she never would have been killed.
But you don't see it that way, do you, Padme? Force, I can't believe
I married such a fool..."
"Anakin," Padme whispered, "How can
you say such a thing? How can you agree with troops trampling over
your mother's grave?"
Anakin leapt on her, grabbed her shoulders,
shook her, like he was beating out a dirty carpet.
"Don't you ever, ever mention my mother,"
he shouted at her, "Ever again."
Padme was terrified, her whole body
trembling as her husband shook her, pinned her there, screamed in her face.
She thought of the one person she knew would help. Just a thought.
Obi-Wan.
"What did you just say?" Anakin demanded.
"I didn't say anything, Annie."
"Obi-Wan. He ruins everything."
With a sharp fling of his hand he
tossed Padme aside, where she hit the wall. She began to cry, and
still was when Obi-Wan Kenobi burst into the room, his lightsaber lit,
shimmering blue.
"My foolish Padawan, what have you
done this time?" Obi-Wan did not try to mask the contempt in his voice
as he surveyed the scene; Padme sobbing in the corner, against the wall;
Anakin raging silently, as he always did; and an unmade bed in the centre
of the room.
"Nothing that is of your concern,
Master," he replied, hanging his head and looking upset.
Obi-Wan suddenly felt a pang of pity
for the boy, "Anakin, I told you not to see Padme without my permission."
Suddenly Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber
flew from his hand. He had let his guard down, and Anakin had taken
advantage of it again, just as he had when Obi-Wan had trusted him to stay
away from Padme. After this, it would be necessary to report Anakin
to the Jedi council, where he would certainly be stripped of his knighthood.
"You say many things, Master," Anakin
responded flatly.
Seemingly unperturbed by his wife
in the corner and Obi-Wan awaiting a fight, Anakin left the room.
"Senator," Obi-Wan murmured softly,
"Come, we must leave here immediately."
She didn't respond as his arms wrapped
around her and carefully moved her towards the door.
()()()