Oh, Possibilities
By infinitykat
Part Ten: So Desperately
"You know I'd give anything to watch you sleep
I can picture you just lying there
And we don't need to say the words
'Cause they don't mean a thing
You know you're not alone when someone cares
And I believe that you are still my anything
And everything I need.." –"Don't Cry For Us" by justincase
A/N: Salut everyone! So…vacation is over…yeah. It is definitely the suck. And, also that I have not done anything with this since June. I have thought about it, but das about it. Going to visit friends on Mercer Island can do that to you. Anyway, enjoy, and I'm starting a new feature at the end of every chapter so you can see m' influences. Have fun and 'fanks for the reviews as always.
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And so the twins were snuggled up together in Padmé's bed, Judith still unconscious on one of the sofas, and Anakin was whispering sweet nothings in his wife's ear, and telling her it'd be over soon. The next day in fact. Anakin was to bring Luke, Leia, and Judith before the Council, and hear if they approved of him as well. But he knew it wouldn't matter anyway, he'd still come home to Padmé that night.
"So you're not allowed to worry about me all day. I know you have so many meetings…" Anakin told her.
"Oh…" Padmé sighed and covered her face with a hand, remembering the Loyalist Committee. She quickly explained it to Anakin. "…And I just don't know if I'm the right person for it…"
Once Anakin got over looking shocked, he smirked and shook his head. "You'd be the perfect person to be chancellor!" he insisted.
"But I don't want the fame or power or any of that!" Padmé replied. Anakin shook his head again.
"Exactly. That's why you'd be perfect. Just look at the two last chancellors. They both were corrupted by such things," Anakin said, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Take it." Padmé just looked up at him for a moment, then wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his soft tunic.
"You always make things sound so easy," she mumbled. Anakin chuckled and kissed the top of Padmé's head. She looked up at him through wisps of long sandy blond hair. They shared a kiss, soft and bittersweet.
"I want you so desperately," she whispered tearfully in his ear.
"Tomorrow night, I promise," he whispered back.
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"Agh, my head," Judith muttered as she sat up. She rubbed at her temples and looked around. "Still here, am I?" Anakin chuckled.
"Yes. Why?" Anakin asked as he sat across from her on the other soft violet sofa.
"I was hoping this was all a dream and I'd wake up back at home. I have a lot of homework to do, you know," Judith explained.
"What's that?" he asked curiously.
"Hm? Oh homework. It's uh, work that schoolteachers give you to do at home. Haven't you ever been to school?" she asked incredulously. Anakin shook his head.
"Only at the Jedi Temple. And it was your home, so all we had was work," he explained. Judith laughed.
"And I guess you're still not evil, 'cause, check it out!" Judith joked, gesturing towards him.
"What do you mean? Why do you keep saying things like that?" Anakin asked. The question had been on his mind since they met. Judith sighed.
"Do you really want to know the truth?" she asked, brows raised. Anakin nodded.
"Well, where do I begin?" Judith mumbled to herself, and sighed again. "On Earth, were I come from, we have these things called films or movies. Someone films a story with a camera, and then it gets edited and shown to…anyone, really, who can afford it. They project it real big on a screen and you sit in a theater, and sometimes, the popcorn is stale…but that's besides the point," Judith said, and took a deep breath. "There is a movie about your galaxy. And you in particular."
"Me?!" Anakin gasped, shocked. Judith slowly nodded her head.
"So basically, I know what you're past is like and I know what your future should be.."
"Wait, wait. I've never been filmed for one of these novie things you speak of," Anakin interrupted.
"Not novies. Movies. Anyway, they have actors for that. A guy named Hayden Christensen plays you. The resemblance is uncanny, if only I could show you," Judith said, shaking her head. Anakin sat back in his seat and folded his arms.
"I don't believe you," he said flatly. Judith rolled her eyes.
"Ask me something, something real personal about the time period when you first met Padmé and that whole Naboo war happened, or when the Clone Wars started," she suggested. Anakin's jaw dropped.
"How did- Fine." He thought for a moment, coming up with something she would never know. "Here's one: What was my mother's name?" he asked. Judith thought for a moment.
"I know it's something with an 'EE' sound. Hhh..Shh…that's it! Shmi!" she responded proudly. Anakin opened his mouth to say something else, but Judith stood up.
"And for the next movie, ten years later, when you meet Padmé again for the second time, a song. Hold up-" Judith quietly tip-toed to the handmaiden's quarters and disappeared for a moment.
She came back out with her guitar in hand.
"Okay. Make it a quiet one. I'll make a Force barrier, but I don't know if it will work for that thing," Anakin said in a hushed whisper.
"Oh don't worry. This song will explain better than me telling you how you felt while hanging out with Padmé before the beginning battle of the war. You know, protecting her and so on," Judith whispered, winking. Anakin rolled his eyes, but couldn't help wonder what he was in for. She cleared her throat and began to strum. Anakin hurriedly made the Force barrier.
"I was lost and you were found," Judith sang softly,
"You seemed to stand on solid ground
I was weak and you were strong
And me and my guitar we strummed along, oh
Sweet misery you caused me
That's what you called me
Sweet misery you caused me," she sang on, and Anakin was already getting the shivers. "Sweet misery"…it was too accurate.
"I was blind but oh how you could see
You saw the beauty in everything, everything in me
I would cry and you would smile
Stay with me a little while
Sweet misery you caused me
That's what you called me
Sweet misery you caused me
And in my heart I see
What you're doin' to me
And in my heart I see
Just how you wanted it to be
Sweet misery.." Judith cooed, and was silent. She glanced at Anakin, who was staring at the guitar, wondering how it knew how he had felt exactly.
"Believe me now?" she asked quietly, and Anakin jumped, as if he'd forgotten she was there or if she'd blurt out another secret of his soul.
"That's just disturbing. You couldn't have known exactly how it felt…" Anakin trailed off.
"I know. It's weird. There's always a song that will tell a story or a feeling perfectly. I can't explain it…" Judith said.
"And what do you mean by saying that you know what is supposed to happen?" Anakin asked curiously. Judith bit her lip. "And yes, I do really want to know." Judith sighed.
"You're supposed to turn to the Dark Side," Judith said quietly.
"What?!" Anakin exclaimed, "But, I-"
"I know. I know. But I think that you're not going to turn into a tingling tower of terror in this reality," Judith replied.
"Wait…" Anakin said, holding up a finger.
tower of terror… The phrase sparked a memory in Anakin's mind…
"I don't know. I'm seeing Luke and Leia, and they're your age, and they are both alone. In every dream, they are apart. And they are both being chased by this man. He is very tall and wears this...mask. And he carries a lightsaber," Padmé explained, and looked up at him, "Am I seeing the future, Ani?" Anakin swallowed hard.
"…Do I wear a mask in this future?" Anakin asked numbly. Judith bit her lip and nodded.
"Oh Force," he muttered, and put his face in his hands.
"Sucks, don't it?" Judith asked quietly, "But I have a feeling that that's not gonna happen. So don't worry yourself." With that, Judith went back to bed, leaving Anakin sitting with his head in his hands.
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"Five hundred yards in the distance. Destination: destiny…"
Padmé had prayed for a dreamless sleep that night, but she had no such luck. She watched her children sleep peacefully for several minutes, their little bellies rising and falling in sync. The heavy lids on her eyes began to droop, her apartment slowly falling away and darkness replacing it. The children's breathing continued and it grew louder and louder…
The image of terror, tall and black and seething, stood a distance away, his red lightsaber glowing in the darkness. It scarred her eyes and Padmé could still see it when she squeezed them shut. He was pacing, back and forth, as if looking for something. Then suddenly, with a pained battle cry, a young man lunged forward welding a green lightsaber that sizzled when it smashed against his opponent's.
Luke! It was like a dagger in Padmé's heart. She squeezed her eyes shut again and the sounds of the battle faded away.
Padmé cautiously raised her lids again, and found herself in a small, wooden dwelling. The furnishings were simple and roughly woven together. Obviously, the place belonged to a savage. The atmosphere was calm, and almost felt muted after the heart wrenching battle Padmé witnessed. As she looked around, she was shocked to realize that she was standing in a tree.
Stepping carefully out onto a rope bridge that connected the tree dwellings together, Padmé gasped at the beautiful gigantic forest of evergreen. There were many other rope bridges connecting tree dwellings, creating a webbed village. Padmé looked down and saw a party brewing below. Little furry creatures were hurrying about, making concoctions in large pots that sent smoke up to the heavens. Several others were standing around a golden droid, rapt with attention to a story it was telling in an odd language.
"Leia," someone said, and Padmé whipped around.
"What's wrong?" Leia replied to Luke, who stood with his back to Padmé. It struck her how much taller Luke was than Leia.
"Do you remember your mother? Your real mother?" he asked tentatively. Leia's eyes looked beyond Luke to the past.
"She was very beautiful and kind…but sad," she said. "She died when I was very young."
The scenery changed in a blink of an eye. Padmé didn't even have time to absorb what was said.
A melody of mourning drifted out of the mouth of a holy man who supervised a coffin being put into the ground. The only witnesses of the burial were Bail Organa and a 2-year-old Leia. Padmé didn't need to ask who died.
"Mommy?" Leia asked up at Bail. He shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Leia. Your mommy's gone," he replied regretfully. Leia looked back down at the coffin and softly began to cry.
Padmé looked wildly around in the nightmare. Where was Anakin? Where??
"Anakin!" Padmé called, and Leia cried louder.
"Ani!" Padmé yelled, and Leia began to sob.
"Anakin!!" Padmé screamed, and Leia baled into her hands, wailing the loudest of all.
"Mommy!" Leia pleaded tearfully, "Mommy, wake up! Please!"
"Mommy!" Luke joined in.
Padmé's eyes popped open, and she gasped as she sat bolt upright in bed. Luke and Leia fell on her, embracing her tightly. Taking sharp gasping breaths, Padmé looked wildly around. Anakin burst through the door and in a flash had taken her in his arms with a concerned look.
"Another nightmare?" he whispered gently. Padmé just buried her face in his shoulder.
"You…you weren't there…" she replied, but could not go on. Anakin got the gist though.
"You aren't seeing the future, love," Anakin said determinedly. "I-I will always be there."
…to be continued.
Post Note: I cut it off sooner than I anticipated, but I'm having MAJOR writer's block. I know what is going on plot wise, but it's easier thought than written. And if I got the ROTJ quote wrong, I apologize. I didn't check it. K "Sweet Misery" by Michelle Branch. I also quoted "Destination D.F." by Underwood. Okay bye. Review peez!
Influences:
"Well, the world hasn't ended, 'cause…check it out!" –Oz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Two Finale
"Oh, I cannot ignore it (yeah)
I keep giving in
But I should know better 'cause
There's something about the way you looked at me
And it's strange 'cause things change
But me wanting you so desperately." –Michelle Branch, "Desperately" (Hotel Paper- BUY IT!)
"The tingling tower of terror!" – My dad, referring to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror @ Disney World