IN DREAMS

Chapter Two

Obi-Wan slowly opened his eyes and then quickly shut them again. Every part of his body ached and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt that groggy. The pain in his leg wasn't as bad as he had originally thought it was. Suddenly, he shot up, ignoring the pain in his body. Anakin? Where was Anakin? Despite his body's protests, he leapt off his bed and began searching. He went from one bed to another, frantically searching and hoping that his padawan was in one of those beds.

"General! Stop! You must come back to your bed!"

Obi-Wan hesitated for one moment and looked at the medic, then continued searching, only to be physically stopped by the medic.

"Come, General. This way."

"No, no…Anakin Skywalker. Have you seen him? Is he here? Where is Anakin Skywalker?"

"General…I haven't seen him. Let's get you back into bed, and then I'll check the patient list to see if he's here."

That gave Obi-Wan some relief and he almost immediately agreed to go back to his bed, now really feeling the pain in his body. Several minutes later, the medic returned with a grim look on his face.

"I'm sorry, General. He isn't here."

"What? Can you call the other medic bases and find out if he's there?"

"Yes, General, but this is the only base in the area from miles. If he was found, they would have brought him here."

"I don't care! You call anyways…no, I'll do it. Bring me a comlink, I'll find him myself."

The medic nodded quickly, and hurried off to bring General Kenobi what he had asked for. When he returned, Obi-Wan practically leapt off the bed to grab the comlink from his hands.

After making call after call, he dejectedly gave the comlink back to the medic.

"He's not there. They don't know where he is."

The medic bit his lip before speaking again. "General, if he isn't found within 48 hours, he'll be presumed missing and…I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but if he's still under that rubble, he's probably already dead."

Obi-Wan swallowed and quickly took the comlink back from the medic. "Commander, send a search party for Anakin Skywalker. Leave no stone unturned and report back to me."

Padme rubbed her tired eyes and tried to focus on the paperwork that needed to be completed. What was she working on now? She couldn't even remember the last report she had just completed. In frustration, she slammed her pen on the desk, causing ink to splatter all over the papers. Feeling unbearably defeated, her body began to shake and tears rolled down her cheeks. She placed her head on the desk and allowed herself to sob harder. Her arm pushed all of the papers off her desk and she immediately rushed to the ground to pick them up. After a moment's pause, she began tearing them viciously apart, screaming and crying at the same time.

After every paper was ripped to pieces, she collapsed on the floor, her body shaking and heaving, her voice softly whispering: "Anakin, Anakin…"

"Milady?"

Padme looked up at see Sabe's concerned face, and managed to stop herself from crying.

"Have you heard anything, Sabe?"

Sabe quickly shook her head, her heart-breaking at the look on Padme's face.

"He's still missing, then." Padme whispered to herself.

Sabe nodded, even though Padme didn't notice.

"Milady, you need to rest. It's late and you need to gather your strength for the meeting tomorrow. How are you going to explain the dark circles under your eyes?"

Padme nodded and let Sabe help her up and lead her to her bed.

"Sabe, if you hear anything, come and tell me, I don't care what it is, just wake me up."

Sabe nodded and turned off the light before leaving the room. Padme was asleep almost immediately, her exhausted body no longer able to handle what it was going through. Her mind drifted off and before she knew it, she was in a deep sleep.

Padme heard a knock on the door and she jumped up to answer it. She flung the door open to reveal the face of her very handsome husband. She immediately threw her arms around him and heard his laughter in her ear.

"Happy to see me?"

"Anakin, we didn't know what happened to you. The news said you were missing."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

"What happened to you? Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, I promise. I know you were worried and I'm sorry for that. But I'm here. I don't know when I'll have to leave again, so I want to enjoy the time I have with my wife."

He leaned forward, gently kissing her lips and drawing her closer to him.

"I can't believe you're here. It's been so long, Anakin."

"I know, I know. I wish there was something I could do to make it easier for you."

"I know, but it doesn't matter anymore. I have you here and I don't want to think about anything else."

He smiled softly and kissed her again. "You're absolutely right."

Padme shot up in bed and felt tears forming in her eyes. Such a beautiful dream, Anakin was safe, he was with her, kissing her, loving her. It wasn't fair. Why did she have to have that dream? It was too sweet and too realistic. She didn't want to give herself false hope, but the dream had seemed so real. Like it could actually happen. That Anakin wasn't missing. That he was safe with her, in her arms. She shook her head, knowing that she had to be hopeful, but realistic at the same time.

She closed her eyes dejectedly, and forced herself to fall back asleep. Several hours later, Sabe entered her room and began to wake her so she could prepare for the day's duties.

Padme sighed in frustration, glad that the meeting was over, but upset that there was still no news about her husband. She was slowly going insane and the only thing that was going through her mind was that she didn't know where her husband was or if he was safe from harm. She exited the meeting room quickly, leaving Sabe to gather up her paperwork, and headed toward her destination. If anybody could give her information, it was the Jedi Council.

She turned the corner and ran directly into Jedi Master Mace Windu.

"I'm so sorry, Senator Amidala."

"Don't worry, Master Windu. I was actually on my way to speak to a member of the Council."

"What can I help you with then?"

"I wanted to inquire about General Kenobi and his padawan. I heard they were missing and I was wondering if the Council had received any word about their well-being."

Mace grimaced at the mention of the missing-in-action Jedi and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Senator. They still haven't been found."

Padme swallowed nervously, trying desperately to mask her feelings and replied with a shaky voice. "Oh, I see. I hope they are found quickly."

"Thank you, Senator."

Padme nodded and hastily turned on her heel. As he watched her leave, Mace's eyes narrowed and pondered her words, wondering at the emotional voice behind the seemingly indifferent words.