Padme's birthday was coming up very soon. Her coronation day. And there was one person more determined than anyone else to make sure it was perfect. Her husband Anakin Skywalker. She was the light of his life, the apple of his eye, the queen of his heart. Every day, Anakin treated her like royalty, not just because she was once queen of Naboo or because she'd technically been a princess for the last two years after she married him... but because he loved her.
And this upcoming celebration was no exception.
Caroline was in charge of planning the event, and Anakin didn't hesitate to volunteer to be her assistant.
The ballroom was decorated beautifully on the tables and place settings. All it was missing was flowers,
"Alright, Anakin." said Caroline. "Flower away."
"Growing." Anakin said, cracking his knuckles.
Anakin got to decorating the ballroom with lots of beautiful flowers. Red millaflowers, blue hydrangeas, white gardenias, pink roses, and hibiscuses, Padme's favorite flower and all her favorite colors. He also made willow branches with little white flowers appear from the ceilings.
"Perfect. Elegant, naturally beautiful, and naturally perfect. Just like Padme." Anakin sighed, thinking of the love of his life.
"You really love Padme, don't you?" Caroline chuckled.
"Love is an understatement. More like I adore her. Even that's an understatement to how I feel about her." Anakin said. "Believe it or not, plenty of other women still try to throw themselves at me even though the Galaxy knows I'm married now. It's ridiculous. Even if Padme and I weren't married now, I'd still choose her out of all those girls because I couldn't find a better woman if I tried. I couldn't even imagine a more perfect woman. A perfect combination of beauty, inner strength, and determination. And whenever I kiss her, I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven."
"Padme is a very lucky woman to have a husband who cares for her so much. It's no wonder other women have been jealous. I've lot count of how many women I've come across who always end up married to men who are unfaithful, lazy, or unappreciative."
"That's sad. But you also got lucky. Your husband is my brother. So, be careful other women don't try to steal him."
"Don't worry about me. Any girl tries to steal my man... let's just say they'll see just how powerful a ballerina can kick."
Anakin chuckled at how feisty Caroline was. He could see why Carmine loved her so much and fought so hard to prove it to her. And now, Padme was getting another coronation ceremony; this time, it was a permanent position, as she was married to a prince rather than elected into the throne.
Because this was such a special day, Anakin wanted to make sure his wife had the amazing celebration she deserved. She was his queen, and he wanted to give her a special gift unlike any other.
Any other man would likely go with the typical gift of flowers, jewelry, or chocolate. But Anakin saw Padme as unlike any other woman. And most stores didn't carry anything that even came close to matching his undying love for Padme. What could he do to profess his love for Padme?
There wasn't a lot of time. Padme's birthday was in a few days. He needed ideas and quick! And Anakin already had an idea of where he could find some answers.
Anakin sought the help of every man he knew with a wife or girlfriend. He asked kings how they professed their love to their queens, he asked Carousella's father how he'd professed his love for his late wife, he even asked Padme's father how he showed his love for Padme's mother.
But Anakin got so many different answers.
Making a trail of rose petals that led to a romantic dinner table, leaving love notes in random places with short romantic poems, creating a scavenger hunt with different clues leading to a romantic date at the spot where the couple first met, and leaving a special challenge for the woman with four flowers with notes and three flowers die, but one with a note labeled 'love' does not because the flower is fake, and like their love, that flower would never die. There were even romantic stories of guys proposing to their ladies in the same spot they had their first kiss, first said 'I love you,' or where they first met.
But, Anakin wasn't sure he could do any of those things at the coronation. When he and Padme renewed their vows, Anakin felt so much adrenaline running through him as he professed his love for Padme, giving her his vow of eternal love in front of their friends and family, and then kissed her like in a fairy tale. Anakin didn't know when his powers truly first unlocked, but he wondered if, on his and Padme's wedding day, they'd unlocked and made the flowers glow brighter and grow bigger when they did. When they danced, the flowers got bigger, and every time they kissed, their colors got brighter.
And then, Anakin thought of someone whose love story he did not fully know.
"What would you say is the best way you've professed your love for Caroline?" Anakin asked his twin.
Carmine thought about it. There were many things he'd done over the years he and Caroline were together. He'd done something as simple as giving her flowers, which felt magical to Caroline, and he only continued to do amazing things for her after that. Before he even told Caroline he loved her face-to-face for the first time, he would leave anonymous gifts by her dorm or at her locker. A single flower, an anonymous love letter; once he even left her a panda bear he won as a prize during a school field trip to an amusement park. Too bad Caroline hadn't looked at him until after he tripped and lost his glasses again then.
But there was one thing Carmine did to express how he felt about his wife more than anything else, one thing Caroline never tired of.
"I serenade my bride with a song that expresses the truth." Carmine said. He sighed happily. "I still remember the first song I ever sang about her."
Carmine picked up his guitar and strummed a few chords, beginning a beautiful song.
I don't know
But I think I may be fallin' for you
Dropping so quickly
Maybe I should keep this to myself
Waiting 'til I know you better
I am trying, not to tell you
But I want to,
I'm scared of what you'll say
And so I'm hiding what I'm feeling
But I'm tired of holding this inside my head
I've been spending all my time
Just thinking about ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I've been waiting all my life
And now I found ya
I don't know what to do
I think I'm fallin' for you
I'm fallin' for you
"But I don't play any instruments." Anakin said.
"Well, I can teach you if you'd like." Carmine said. "You've seen the number of instruments I play."
"I still don't know how many exactly you play. Even if I did, I don't have enough time to learn an instrument."
"That's okay. I can play an instrument, and you could sing to your wife. I heard you sing to Gabby before. You've got a good voice."
"Don't we have practically the same voice?"
Because Carmine grew up in a different area than Anakin, he had a little bit of an accent in his voice. But, he could alter his voice any time he wanted to switch places with Anakin. According to him, one could learn to imitate many voices by spending enough time with vocal training.
"Even if two people have the same voice," said Carmine. "You still have to train to be a good singer. Let's see what you got and we'll see what we can work out."
So, Carmine played some chords and scales on the keyboard and had Anakin copy him in some of the vocal exercises he typically practiced.
To Anakin's surprise, he was not too good on the high notes. Sometimes. he lost his breath, or he hurt his throat trying to hold a longer note.
And as Anakin was panting for breath, Carmine took note of everything they needed to work on.
"Okay, I see the problem." Carmine said.
Carmine put his hands on Anakin's body, showing him where he needed to feel his breath and vibrations when he sang.
"You're singing from your throat trying to get the high notes. You need to sing from your diaphragm. That's here in the chest. A trick one of my teachers taught me is when you're doing higher notes, it helps to put a smile on your face to make your inner song feel elevated. Make your singing voice scream with joy."
Anakin tried again, this time following Carmine's advice. He was a professional pop star; he literally sang for a living, while Anakin knew almost nothing about it. So, this was one of those rare times Anakin would definitely accept all the help he could get. If he learned anything, it was that serenading was among the most popular gestures of love among women with dreams of their perfect Prince Charming.
Anakin practiced and practiced warming up his voice all day and the next. And Carmine helped by showing him every love song he knew so Anakin could find which suited best for how he felt about his wife, which was a difficult decision because no one song seemed to describe everything Anakin loved about Padme.
But then, Anakin found a song that showed all the passion he felt burst in his heart every time he did one thing he could do with Padme forever.
All Anakin had to do now was practice.
Carmine and some of their friends began setting the stage and the soundboard.
"Mommy's gonna love her ball." Gabby said, jumping excitedly. "She's gonna love you singing for her, Daddy."
"Yup. When I'm through, your mother will never forget this night." Anakin said.
Carmine tested the microphone to ensure it was working correctly.
"Okay, Anakin. You ready?" Carmine asked.
"Is Padme my wife?" Anakin answered as he took to the stage.
Some of the kids sat around to watch Anakin practicing. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan decided they had to see this too. Anakin Skywalker in musical performance.
The musicorns got to fixing up the lights and music, and Carmine called action.
Anakin stepped up to the mic, and the music began to play. But... something wasn't right.
Anakin tried to start singing, but no sound came out of his mouth. He tried again, but no sound came out again. And all of a sudden, Anakin could hear nothing but his heart beating, and he began looking at the microphone like it was a gun pointing at him. He started shaking and sweating, breathing heavily, and everyone got concerned. And then Anakin ran off the stage without thinking.
"What just happened?" Ahsoka said, concerned and confused for her master.
"I think Anakin was... scared." Obi-Wan said, sounding both shocked and worried.
