Title: A New Order

Author: Jedikma

A/N: Thanks, Sith Lord Darth Revan. :) Glad you're still enjoying the story and since you asked for more I will grant your wish. Enjoy!

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Chapter 6

Even though attachments were no longer forbidden for the Jedi, it was still a hard life. A life of service meant little time for a life of one's own and the days were often very long. The Jedi life could be even harder on the spouse that wasn't a member of the Jedi Order.

Padme Skywalker sat at her dressing table brushing her hair. She yawned, a definite indication that the hour was late and her husband still was not home. She glanced over at the chrono on the bedside table and sighed. She hoped that Anakin would show up soon. It was bad enough that she spent plenty of nights alone when he was on missions, but she hated to go to sleep before he got home on the nights he was on Coruscant.

"Not to worry, I'm finally here."

"Anakin!" She jumped at his voice. She turned around to see him standing in the doorway. "Why do you always have to slip in like that?"

Anakin laughed and walked towards her. "I'm sorry, Padme. It's all those years of training. A Jedi always makes a quiet entrance."

"You don't know how difficult it is to be married to a Jedi. I think I saw more of you during the wars and I expected you to slip in quietly then." Padme stood up from her seat and leaned in to kiss her husband.

Anakin took her into his arms and gave her a warm hug. "I know it's difficult, Padme, but at least we don't have to hide our relationship anymore. You know, it isn't any easier being married to a politician."

Released from his embrace, Padme removed her robe and moved to the bed. "I know, Anakin." She sighed. "Something always has to get done and I have my share of late hours, too."

As Padme slipped into the bed, Anakin sat down on the vacated bench and began to remove his boots. "I have good news though. There is finally going to be a Jedi wedding."

"Really? Who?"

"Obi-Wan and Siri. Well, actually, he has to talk to her first, but since the Council is insisting that they marry or end the relationship, then I'm sure she will marry him. It will be the first wedding at the Temple."

Padme stared at Anakin with a blank expression and it caused him to pause as he was removing his tunic. He gave her a puzzled look. "What is it?"

Padme cleared her throat. "Do you really think she will marry him? She doesn't seem to want that or she would have married him a long time ago."

"I don't think she is going to want to live without him and I'm sure she would never allow Obi-Wan to step down from his Council position."

"I don't know, Anakin. Siri Tachi seems rather headstrong. She seems determined to do things her way. Just today I managed to head off a confrontation between her and Lady Jade over the very subject of her relationship with Obi-Wan."

Anakin, having removed his inner tunic, was preparing to lay it over the back of a chair with his outer tunic when he stopped and turned to his wife. "Padme, you didn't interfere, did you?"

"I didn't particularly care for the things Lady Jade was saying, either. I felt it was important to say something."

Anakin groaned. "Siri doesn't take well to others fighting her fights. How did she react to you?"

Padme fluffed up the pillows behind her. "Actually, she was distracted by another mother there and left me to finish the argument. I didn't know whether to be glad she let it drop or insulted that she left me with the fight. I don't think she likes me much."

Anakin could feel a bit of hurt in Padme's voice. Padme had made an effort to be friendly to Siri through the years since the war, but Siri was a distant person.

"Padme, I don't think it's that she doesn't like you. Siri just keeps her distance from most beings. She has always been that way. It doesn't help that there is no real time for any of us to simply be social and get to know each other."

"If that's the case, it makes me wonder how Obi-Wan gets close to her." Padme remarked. Anakin was sure Padme didn't intend to sound mean, she was just frustrated that she couldn't make a connection with a woman who was an important part of Obi-Wan's life. "You always seem to defend her, Anakin."

Now wearing only his trousers, Anakin sat down on the side of the bed next to his wife, facing her. Before speaking, he took her hand. "I defend her because, of the many knights at the Temple, she was one of the few that believed in me. Perhaps it was her devotion to Obi-Wan, but she always had faith in his ability to train me. She has been a good friend, Padme."

"You talk as though she and Obi-Wan have always been in love with each other."

Anakin looked surprised and smiled. "They have been for as long as I've known them."

"Really? How do you know that? Sometimes to just look at them it seems they are just keeping company with each other. I had to admit that Lady Jade's remark about them having babies just to populate the order doesn't seem too off the mark. They aren't very affectionate to each other from what I've seen and Siri, at least, seems to want to keep a certain distance between herself and her children."

Anakin looked a little sad at Padme's remark, but he could understand her misconception. Obi-Wan and Siri had grown up Jedi and to show emotion was frowned upon. "I happen to know that what you see is definitely not what is true. I have sensed their affection for each other many, many times. They have spent so many years hiding their true feelings for each other from the rest of the galaxy that they have become experts at it. In truth, I really don't know two people who are closer to each other."

Now it was Padme's turn to look surprised. "If they are so good at hiding it, then how can you be so sure?"

"Don't forget that Obi-Wan was once my Master. While he was excellent at shielding many things from me, there were times that emotions sometimes slipped out. Plus, I could always sense more than anyone else could if I tuned in carefully. From the first time I saw the two of them in a room together, I knew there was something between them. I was still young enough then not to quite understand, but it came to me soon enough. All the years of bickering and bantering were just a way to deal with their real feelings. One way they learned to express their affections was to rest together in the Force."

Padme looked puzzled. "I guess I don't understand what that means."

"It's a lot like two people sitting against each other. When they sit close to each other, even if their bodies don't touch, their Force signatures rest together. They have done it for so long that it seems to be second nature to them now. They are like two halves of a whole and they are very comfortable together."

"Can anyone who is Force sensitive see that they do this?"

Anakin smiled. "No, they shield what they are doing, but I learned to detect it. I knew if my Master was feeling a certain contentment, it was a good time to go to him for the things I wanted."

Padme laughed at this revelation. "So you have always been sneaky?"

Anakin leaned in to kiss his wife on her neck. "Always. How do you think I got so good at it? Practiced it whenever I could."

Padme pushed her husband away from her. "You are so terrible!"

"I am." Anakin smiled, but then turned serious. "Padme, I know it isn't easy, but I hope you won't give up trying to be a friend to Siri. You never know what may break the ice."

"I would like that to happen, Anakin. I really would."

Pleased with her comment Anakin replied, "If anyone can do it, then I believe you will."

Anakin leaned in towards Padme again and kissed her on the lips. As the kiss deepened, Padme wrapped her arms around Anakin's neck. "Are you terribly exhausted?" he whispered. "Or could you be convinced to stay up just a little longer?"

"Ummm. If I don't fall asleep between now and the time you finish getting ready for bed then I'm sure I could be convinced," she purred.

Anakin waved his hand at the light switch and the room went dark. Somehow in the next instant, the remainder of his clothing was discarded and he crawled in between the sheets.

Being married to a Jedi had its advantages, too.