Falls the Shadow Chapter 11
Thoughts
Padmé awoke as she had the morning before, wide awake wrapped in Anakin's embrace with Anakin, snoring ever so softly, deeply asleep. Indeed, as far as she was aware, Anakin had slept the night through for a change. The shaking fits that had plagued him during the previous night and beyond appeared to (hopefully) be a thing of the past.
It was barely light out, far too early to begin the day but she knew that sleep would elude her from now on. Instead, her mind was turning things over and over again in an endless litany. The scolding that she had received from the Senate offices still stung and despite her assertion that she had let the issue rest, her mind and heart just refused to let it go. They had treated her like a junior page, a non important member, and she was furious. Poor little Nubian Senator, return to your sub committees and other such duties. The recreational drug known on the streets as the 'Jedi Mind Trick', (so named for the placid state of it's over dosed users) had become a REAL issue on Coruscant, after all, and it required her full attention. Leave the military matters to those who understood them and focus her energies on things that people in her position needed to worry about.
Sensing her discomfort, Anakin shifted himself over, wrapping his arms more tightly around her body as if to protect her from the night. Padmé kissed the top of his shoulder and felt his chin come to rest on the top of her head. Despite her concerns, she smiled. Guérisseur was right, he was healing quickly. Her smile dissolved suddenly. Yes he was healing... but it just seemed to be a little too quickly in her eyes. When she had first seen him, barely a few days ago, Anakin had been a physical and emotional wreck but now... the physical wounds were healing, that she expected. Even the black eye he had suffered had made a vast improvement, becoming far less noticeable. All of that she could pass off somewhat easily enough, but the emotional scars... the loss of his companions seemed like a distant memory as apposed to something so recent. Had he allowed himself to become so closed off...? No, she realized, he hadn't just forgotten the incident but instead had decided to deny the pain. To bury it, hide it away and pretend it didn't exist. Typically of Anakin, he had hidden his fears and discomforts behind a mask of humor. It had only been through gentle coaxing that she had been able to knock down a few of the walls that he had put up again. She knew that their lovemaking was only a small part of it, however, she thought; if she could break down that ONE barrier, get him to stop punishing himself... denying himself the release...
She sighed softly. As long as she was going to be awake for a while, she might as well be comfortable. With that thought, she rolled herself over and rested her head above Anakin's heart, and listening to its slow steady beat, she was completely unaware that as she drifted off to sleep, Anakin began to stroke her back, slowly and soothingly.