Walking in the Rain

By infinitykat

Part 2

"I wanna be the ocean to your shore
give you comfort evermore
I wanna be the only thing you need
be the oxygen you breathe"

A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews (but not for the suicide threats- lol). I think I'll try to finish in this chapter – no joke. :D And oh yeah- what exactly is a fresher? I always say lavatory because I don't want to say bathroom and I don't want to say fresher because that's a shower in my mind. Can someone clear this up for me? Thanks. Again, the italics at the end are from the book.

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I remember walking in the rain…rain was falling on my hands…

Anakin swallowed nervously. Padmé had not said anything for a few moments, and those moments felt like hours. She just looked down at him, as if someone shot her with a stun ray.

Suddenly, she smiled sweetly and took his face in her hands. "Of course I will."

Anakin grinned. He stood, and spent a moment just looking at her. Padmé's smile grew wider and she leapt into his arms. He caught her and spun her around.

After gently setting her down, Anakin laid such a kiss on Padmé, it was surprising he didn't come up for air sooner. When they did, he leaned his forehead against hers. Padmé could feel the heat in his face.

"Ani," she breathed.

"Yes, love?"

"…It's raining." She held up a hand to demonstrate the gentle rain that was falling around them. He glanced up and closed his eyes, letting the drops take the redness from his cheeks. He looked back down at her and smirked.

"I know."

He slowly leaned in kissed her again. The rain started to come down harder, almost at a downpour.

Anakin chuckled and reached for her hood. "I don't want you to catch cold."

"I don't care." She replied automatically.

"No, seriously, we should go inside." He pulled up his own hood and offered her his arm. Padmé took it and they began to slowly walk back towards the retreat. The rain was coming down even harder now.

When they neared the steps up to the entry hall, they broke into a run to escape the downpour. The two burst into the main hall, their cloaks completely soaked. Anakin took a handful of his dark cloak and squeezed it. A good ounce of water splashed down on the stone floor.

At this, Padmé began to laugh uncontrollably. Anakin joined her as he took another handful, squeezed, and this time got himself all wet.

"C'mon," she breathed, between chuckles, "Let's dry off, I'm soaked." Padmé took Anakin's hand and led him to her bedchamber. Once there, Padmé took off her cloak and placed it on the trunk at the end of her bed. Anakin did the same and shook his head, spraying water everywhere. Padmé laughed. She gave him a quick kiss.

"Wait here," she whispered. Anakin watched her cross the room and disappear into the lavatory. Anakin stared at the door Padmé just closed, a smile slowly forming on his face. He punched a first in the air, quietly celebrating with himself. The woman he had been in love with for the last ten years, the one he couldn't breathe without, had said she'd marry him. Almost everything that had gone wrong in his life went clear out of his mind.

He was still smiling to himself as he took off the wet layers of clothing he wore. He was left with a thin undershirt and his trousers, which were reasonably dry. Anakin felt exhausted for every reason as he hung his clothing on a chair in the corner to dry.

Anakin turned around and contently surveyed the room. A sense of warmth was flowing in it, from the fireplace that was crackling merrily on the opposite wall, the bed with its silver crushed velvet covering, and the gentle breeze coming from the open doorway that told of a storm gone calm.

Anakin yawned, stretched, and climbed into bed. He really was truly tired. He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard the lavatory door open and Padmé walk quietly, obviously trying not to disturb him. She came around the end of the bed to the side opposite Anakin. He watched her take off her navy blue robe, revealing a white nightgown that gracefully fitted her. Padmé slipped into bed and loosely looped her arms around Anakin's neck, wearing a small smile. Her wavy brown hair tumbled down her back, and as she moved closer, he could faintly smell…what was it? Lavender? Anakin smiled to himself. Her beauty always seemed to amaze him.

Padmé's smile faded a bit and Anakin could sense some kind of uneasiness in her.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked softly. Anakin frowned.

"What do you mean?" he replied, saying it slowly. She bit her lip.

"Us. What about your commitment?" the question was vague, but he understood, though the idea of choosing between the Jedi and Padmé had been already fought and finished for the night. Actually, it had been driven clear out of his mind.

Anakin thought for a moment, the word commitment bringing a string of words to mind. Jedi. Paths. The Chosen One. Destiny. All of it was something the Jedi held dear, and Anakin hated it. Though he could finish his training and be just another regular Jedi, those words would haunt him for the rest of his career.

Then he thought of Padmé. The life he would have to live keeping their relationship a secret. A lie, he knew, but it didn't matter to him, as long as she was his.

"I just need to know that you are mine," he replied softly.

"I'm yours," she said, fingering his padawan braid, "You have me." Anakin smirked.

"As for the Jedi…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say that wouldn't upset her. Anakin changed the subject. "What about you?" Padmé stopped playing with his braid and heaved a sigh.

"I don't know. With the future so unclear… I have about a week to mull things over before the loyalist committee meets again, and then we have to work through all the…problems," she explained, and her eyes looked sad. "We won't be able to be together for a while…"

"Tomorrow, then," Anakin said suddenly.

"What?" Padmé looked surprised by the abrupt swing of the conversation.

"Tomorrow. We'll get married tomorrow," he repeated, giving her his signature lop-sided smile. Padmé nodded.

"Alright," she said with a resigned kind of smile, "But right now I'm exhausted. Good night." Anakin didn't respond, but gave her one of his looks and shifted towards her, closing the space between them. He kissed her.

"Sweet dreams," Anakin said softly.

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Anakin woke with a start. He looked around, confused. He was dreaming of his mother again. Actually, it was a nightmarish reliving of the night she… Anakin tried to shake the thought from his mind. Instead, he looked over at Padmé, who was still asleep, and looking like she was having no problem in doing it. He remembered when he was merely protection, having to settle for her warm presence in the Force, instead of what he wanted, which was to lie next to her, watch the rising and falling of her belly, lose his fingers in her hair, taste the sweetness of her lips… he smiled to himself. Everything he could do now.

It was already morning, and the sunlight was streaming down into the room, throwing bizarre highlights and shadows on his angel through the curtains. Anakin studied the way her hair was spread out over the sheet, the way she clutched the pillow, the way her nightgown's back scooped down low to expose most of her own.

Not really registering the movement, Anakin began to walk his fingers up her back gently. Padmé stirred and opened an eye. She closed it again quickly, a small smile playing on her lips. His fingers continued to walk up, pausing to softly stroke her scars from the Geonosis arena.

"Please don't do that," she whispered. Anakin smirked and spread his hand wide on her back, leaning in to kiss her.

"Why not?" he asked softly. Padmé smiled at the memory of that day they left for Naboo, when she was still resistant to her heart. Though it was only a few weeks ago, it felt like an eternity. She mock-glared at him from her pillow and closed her eyes again. "Because I'm still asleep," she responded, and turned away from him. Anakin chuckled and rose out of bed. He walked around to Padmé's side and lowered himself to his knees in front of her. Anakin watched her for a few long moments, just taking her in. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," he whispered. Padmé caught his hand and squeezed.

"I love you too," she whispered back, and let go of his hand.

Later, Padmé awoke, being brought back to awareness by a soft breeze coming from the open window. She sat up and yawned, looking around for Anakin. Finding that he wasn't in the room, Padmé wandered to the doorway that led to the balcony. At least she started too, and, realizing the room was rather chilly, picked up her robe from the floor. As she pulled it on, Padmé noticed something on the floor where her robe was and she bent down to pick it up.

And stopped. Lying on the floor was a small, square trinket with an intricate design craved into it, hanging from a rough, tethered lanyard. Padmé carefully took it in her hands. She felt the trinket with a delicate finger and smiled. She pulled the necklace over her head and, holding it close to her heart, went to the doorway.

Anakin was out there, obviously meditating. Padmé leaned against the doorframe and tilted her head. Husband? No, Jedi. Padmé shook her head in disbelief. She was in love with a Jedi. One that couldn't be able to love her, but he did anyway. For a while, she acted as though she had restraints, which she didn't, and he acted as though he didn't, but he did. It scared her sometimes, knowing someone so powerful needed her so much.

Padmé slowly approached him, and he looked like he was shivering. Anakin sniffled, and she realized he was silently crying. She picked up speed and lightly put a hand on his back when she reached him. He stiffened.

"Ani?" she asked quietly, "Are you alright?" Anakin glanced back at her and she could see the tears dried on his face. Anakin turned back to staring off at the mountains. He didn't reply for a few moments.

"I…I dreamed about my mother again last night," he said finally. Padmé wrapped him in her arms from behind. She got up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"I sorry," she whispered. Anakin shook his head and sank to his knees. He was crying hard now, and Padmé pulled him close.

"Shh…" she cooed, "I was only a dream…I'm here…" Anakin shook his head again.

"There's so many things I want to tell her…" said Anakin, "And she would have loved you and you could have loved her…" He shook his head again and buried his face against the softness of her breast. Padmé gently stroked his hair.

"Dwelling on the past won't change anything," she said softly. So they sat, he weeping and she comforting him.

After a while, his crying subsided and he sat up, wiping his eyes, trying to regain his composure. Anakin brought his knees up to his chest hung his head.

"You're right," he said, looking at Padmé, "I should be mindful of the present, not the past." Padmé nodded and pulled him closer. She slowly leaned in to kiss him, but Anakin glanced down and pulled back suddenly.

"What's wrong?" she asked uncertainly. Anakin reached towards her and held the trinket he had made in his hand. He smirked and felt it with his mechanical thumb.

"You still have this," he said quietly. Padmé smiled.

"Or course I do." She leaned in and kissed him.

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On distant Naboo, in a rose-covered arbor overlooking the sparkling lake, Anakin and Padmé stood hand in hand, Anakin in his formal Jedi robes and Padmé in a beautiful white gown with flowered trim. Anakin's new mechanical arm hung at his side, the fingers clenching and unclenching in reflexive movements.

Before them stood a Naboo holy man, his hands raised above their heads as he recited the ancient texts of marriage. And when the proclamation was made, R2-D2 and C-3PO, bearing witness to the union, whistled and clapped.

And Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

The two turned to look over that sparkling lake, thinking about what they had just done. What had they just done? Defy everything else for their own desires. The thought passed, though. Anakin looked back at Padmé, slowly grinning. It was official. She was his. Only his. Padmé, feeling his gaze, turned towards him, a small smile playing on her lips. He suddenly reached down and picked her up. Padmé let a small gasp of surprise escape her lips, then giggled.

She reached up and held on by Anakin's neck. He passed the droids and Threepio turned to him, and if he had muscles, he probably wore a confused expression.

"Where're you going, Master Anakin? Miss Padmé?"

"See you later, Threepio!" Anakin called over his shoulder. Artoo whistled and squawked as if laughing, and began to roll away in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Threepio called, beginning to waddle after Artoo, "Wait for me, Artoo!"

In Padmé's bed chamber, Anakin gently put her down on the bed. As he leaned down towards her, unfastening his cloak, a memory of his mother floated up through his mind, making him smile.

"Now you can make all your dreams come true, Ani."

And in a way, he had.

THE END

Post note: I kind of cut that shorter than it was supposed to be, but I think it was for the better. REVIEW! Read my other stuff!