Crimson Tears

Chapter 23

By aznJEDI13


Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Anakin and Amidala and everyone else. Heck, he owns just about everything in the story. This is purely for fan enjoyment.

Notes: This takes place during the Clone Wars. I must warn you right now that I'm not a big fan of Anakin turning into Darth Vader so it probably won't end with anything like that. I hope you like this; I've been reading too many ami/obi ones I was sooooooooooooo mad. That was completely random and I'm going to write a bunch of stories to rebel against them!

Thanks to everyone who left a review! Please continue to do so. I was so shocked, I've never had so many reviews and I enjoyed reading them over and over again so please continue! I like long reviews too!!!

Sorry I've been so absent. Life is hectic now that school's started! Look hopefully for an update a week.

Once again, Italics means flashbacks or dreams. =D

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Because by tomorrow morning I'll have this thing beat
and everything will be back to the way it was




"Anneekan!!!!"

From his seat at the spaceport, Anakin glanced up. He smiled at the sight of a little boy running towards him. The boy jumped into his arms hugging him tightly. Anakin laughed serenely.

"We're not late are we?" Collin asked.

"No," Anakin laughed, tickling Jay, "No of course not."

Jay planted a sloppy and wet kiss on Anakin's stumble cheek, "Gooobry Anneekan."

Anakin laughed gently and placed a small kiss on the boy's forehead, "Goodbye Jay. I'll miss you."

"I'm mmmissss yyou too Anneekan."

He tenderly placed Jay down and turned to Collin, "It's sad to see you go, Anakin, but it's for the best."

Anakin smirked, "That is it."

"I'll see you?" Collin asked, holding out his hand, Anakin took it but pulled him into an embrace.

"I'll see you." He smiled against his shoulder.

Then Collin turned to Padme. She glanced at him nervously as he leaned forward to give her a hug. She raised her finger, "Don't you dare."

He laughed, "Glad to have met you Padme…" He sobered, "Anakin is one lucky guy."

Collin turned and left, watching as Jay ran ahead of him. Anakin watched as they disappeared out the door. He shook his head, knowing everything was for the best.

"…Final boarding call for flight 023 to the Naboo system, final call…"

Padme, from her seat next to him, smiled slightly, standing up and looking over at him, "That's our call, Ani."

He smiled faintly glancing around the room; Obi-wan was sitting in the seat next to the one Padme had just vacated.

Padme hugged Obi-wan briefly, "You will contact me when you reach the temple?"

"Yes," He clasped her hand, "Of course Padme."

She questioned him asking, "You have the number, is that correct?"

He laughed briefly, "Yes, Padme," Dropping her hand, he turned to Anakin, "Now let me say goodbye to this rascal."

They embraced quickly, Anakin smirked, "Master."

"Padawan. I'll be sure to visit. Good luck."

"Goodbye, Obi-wan."

Obi-wan turned, nodded to Padme, and left. Anakin watched the figure leave; Padme nudged him. "You ready fly boy?"

Anakin smirked, "Yeah," He reached down to pick up his luggage, "I've never been more ready." He swung a bag over his shoulder and reached for her hand, "We're going home, Padme."

She smiled sweetly, "I know."

Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there with open arms



His hand tightened its grip on her own. She pretended not to notice, scanning the area slightly.

"There's two seats over there, Ani." She motioned though her arms were full.

He nodded nervously and made his way over to the vacant seats. As soon as they reached the seats he released everything, sat down and clutched the arm rests tightly. Soothing, Padme laughed her sweet laugh music to his ears. Carefully she placed piece after piece of luggage into different compartments. Once she had finished she glanced at him; he looked over at her sheepishly. His hands clutching the arm rest tighter.

"Can you move over Ani?"

He glanced at the empty seat next to him and shrugged, "Oh yeah…"

"I don't know why you're so worried." She reached over and smoothed a golden curl of blond hair, "Everything will be fine," She smiled, "Trust me."

His grip on the armrests relaxed slightly.

Suddenly the jet lifted off the ground, "Oh force!" he screamed suddenly. He gritted his teeth together and squeezed his eyes shut and clutched the armrest tighter once more.

Padme lightly touched his arm, "Shh," She soothed, "It's all right," She ran her hand up his arm comfortingly, "I'm right here Ani, I'm right here."

Slowly, his grip on the armrests relaxed.

Finally Anakin had fallen asleep. She had failed to see how difficult it really was going to be bringing him back to Naboo. Taking him to on a jet, into her private apartment on the shores of the Naboo beach, and other tasks that awaited them. She had failed to comprehend just how difficult this was going to be -- on both of them.

But then, when she thought about it, now that they had each other whatever tomorrow brought they'd be able to withstand it.

With that she dreamed. Dreamed of a time when the future didn't seem so clear.


"Senator the clones have advanced and we no longer had the resources to defend ourselves, we hope Naboo has not condone the course of action that was taken against us and will hopefully…"

She sighed. //Not another one of these.// She yawned. //Don't they ever take a hint?//

She closed her eyes as the holo continued to play. Just as her head was going to rest on the desk, as if on cue, someone walked in. Padme, annoyed, look up, "Senator Skywalker?"

She smiled faintly, "Yes what is it?"

The lady smiled back like a fraud; "There's a delegate here to see you."

Padme groaned, "Let him in."

"Yes milady," The secretary exited. The door didn't shut behind her though.

Slowly it opened, "Senator Skywalker?"

Padme glanced at her desk, searching for a suppressant. She was about to fall asleep, "Come right in," she called, digging through her drawers, not looking at the visitor, "Take a seat on the couch, make yourself feel at home."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the figure move to the couch, "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Senator."

Padme shook her head, "Yes of course," She continued to rummage through the drawer. She muttered an audible, "Where is it?"

He laughed from the couch, "I drank the last one did I mention that?"

The hairs on the back of her neck straightened, she knew that voice. Her head shot up to look at her visitor. He smirked. "Anakin!"

She ran to him. He caught in a strong embrace, crushing her lips with his own. He smiled against her lips, "Hey you."

"Hey yourself!" She hit him, "When did you get in?"

"A few minutes ago," He kissed her again, "I wanted to surprise you, love."

She laughed, running a hand down his cheek, "It was a very good surprise."

He smiled against the back of her hand, "Of course it was." He leaned forward and caressed her lips with his. His lips lingered for a few seconds, drinking in the feeling of her soft lips against his own.

She pulled away, turning in his embrace and rested her head on his chest, "Has it happened?"

His smile dropped and his voice grew sober, "I'm afraid so."

She entwined their fingers together, he kissed the top of her head, "Where will you go from here?"

He shook his head, "I don't know."

"I don't want you to go there." She stated simply, running her hand down his arm.

"I have no choice," he turned her to face and gently kissed her lips, "It's war."

She pulled away and went to the window, "I wonder," she sighed, "What tomorrow will be like."

He went over to her and held her from behind, "That's easy," He entwined their fingers once more, "It'll be better then this."

She sighed, turning to feel his lips against her own. Once she pulled away, she ran the back of her hand down his cheek again, "Let's hope your right. Because right now I can't even see tomorrow."

He placed a finger on her lips, "Shh," He replaced his finger with his own lips, "Let's not think of tomorrow. Let's think of now. Tomorrow's vague and unclear. Right now there is us."

She smiled as he devoured her mouth with his own.

Indeed, right now was theirs -- tomorrow would take care of itself.



She awoke gradually before realizing truly where she was. In panic she reached over to check on Ani.

He wasn't there.

She sighed and went to look for him.

She found him standing at a porthole, staring out into space. His eyes running over every star. His mesmerized face was that of an anxious child seeing something for the very first time.

I want to be the first one then, the first one to see them all.

She watched from the doorframe. It was clear he was not a boy and yet he wasn't a man yet either. His recover was progressing, however slow it was.

He was still beautiful. She never thought he was ugly. He was many things, charismatic, brawn, potent, intense, caring, beautiful, but never had he been ugly.

Instinctively he reached to rub his arms down his sides. It hit her. He was cold, freezing most likely.

Are you all right, Ani?

She turned to go back to their seats quickly, retrieving a blanket.

It's very cold.

She approached him cautiously. He turned and saw her smiling and allowed her to wrap the blanket around him.

She smiled after she had wrapped him in the blanket and kissed the side of his head.

You're from a warm planet, Ani, Space is cold.

She watched as Anakin pulled the blanket tighter around himself. He twisted his head to look at her and smile. Then he opened his arms and welcomed her in. She took the offer and wrapped her arms around his waist. The warmth of his body and the blanket surrounding her easily made everything seem all right.

She smiled back at him. But soon the smile was gone.

Tomorrow, she realized, was here and it hadn't gotten any better.

It was still so unclear.

Why do we all end up alone
Why do we always have to find our way back home



The stars turned from stars to starlines and then back to stars. They glowed and shone brightly before they began to fade as the ship descended into the Naboo atmosphere.

He didn't sleep, in fear he would miss something. The stars just amazed him. They left him utterly speechless. He had never seen such thing.

The ship landed with ease, but he didn't want to leave. Padme had to coax him that outside was definitely better then inside.

She was right.

Naboo appalled him. It was green everywhere with exotic plants, tall trees, and gentle grass. He had never seen so many planets in his life. There were things flying in the air, Padme called them birds, well they were everywhere. Just the life in this place was astonishing.

People came to greet them, bowing respectively. Uttering words of welcome and beckoning them to come inside. He ignored them.

Marble was everywhere, on the floor, on the walls. He reached out a trembling hand to touch the marble wall. He felt the cool surface against the rough tips of his fingers. He liked the feel of the cold marble against his skin, the sound of his boots clamoring against it.

It was an indescribable feeling to feel and hear things for the first time.

Padme's entourage continued forward. He hurried to follow them. Two guards bowed respectively before opening the door for him. Once inside the tall double doors, he stopped -- he was left utterly speechless. He had never seen such a thing before.

He stood in the middle of a circular hall. Tall decorative making its way from the sides of the marble way and its finishing ending high up in the ceiling, carvings and paintings littered the walls making beautiful pictures and collages. The ceiling raised, so on the outside it was a dome, instead of a square room. From the middle, hung a beautiful candle chandelier.

There were three different adjoined wings to this room.

He chose one hearing the sound of boots and quietly made his way over. As he walked down the long hall, he let his hand slide against the marble -- relishing in the hard and cold feel of it.

He passed several doors before the hall ended. It ended in the finest room he had ever seen, the longest also. Yet not only was it long, but also inside was the longest table he had ever seen. There were two sets of candles on each side of the table. With two gigantic chairs, one on each end and several smaller chairs on the side. There was a delicate flower arrangement in the middle while plates, tall wine glasses, forks and other utensils were cautiously placed on off white cotton table mats.

His hand reached out to run against the wood of the table; it glistened in the light because of its finish. He had never seen such wood before. The utensils were of pure silver and the plates of delicate porcelain.

He left the room and the hall, to walk down the hall parallel to the one he had exited. There were more doors to more rooms down this hall. In the end he came to a room. There were couches in the room centered around a small wooden table. This room led into another area with a marble counter and stools, behind it were bottles and bottles of something, a small sink area and a burner.

Another hallway appeared; there was a door on each side of the hall and at the end of the hall stood two gigantic white doors with golden handles.

He walked back to the circular hall, not knowing where he was supposed to go. He walked down the final hall. It was longer then any of the other halls. Instead of multiple doors, there were statues all around. The hall went on forever.

He became frightened.

He didn't know where he was. He was lost. Then the realization hit him -- he was alone. Trembling he collapsed against the cold marble wall he loved so much, curling into a fetal position. He took his head in his hands and began to shake uncontrollably as lonely tears rolled down his robust cheeks.

He was alone.

The only sound was his desolate cries.

To be continued…

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