"Anakin?" He heard the diminished voice, but did not move from his position.

"Anakin!" The voice called again, but he still did not respond.

Padme rounded the pillar and frowned at the sight of her husband standing at the edge of the balcony, looking out over the night life below him with his hands folded behind his back.

"Anni?" She asked, her voice having considerably dropped, and leaned against the pillar. Padme was used to his meditating, as she should be by then, but never so late in the evening.

She sighed, her expression relaxing into a soft smile, and sub-consciously brought her hand to her stomach. Like always, she would wait there for him.

Anakin turned, sooner than expected, and began walking towards her. She stretched out her arms, welcoming into her, and he gratefully accepted.

"Hello, my love," he smiled down at her as she released him, and they both instinctively brought their hands to the barely formed bump in her stomach.

No matter how small it was, it was the beginnings of their own child. Feeling this now, Anakin was reminded of his earlier dilemma.

Padme saw the change in his eyes, how, though she was looking right into them, his eyes seemed distant. He avoided her gaze, averting his own to the bump hidden by her dress. She frowned again, and brought one of her hands to play with the hair on the back of his head.

"What's wrong?" She asked, twisting his hair into her fingers lightly. The only response she received was a slow head shake and weak, "Nothing."

The frown tugged harder at her lips, and Padme pulled away from him completely. He was hiding his feelings from her again, she knew, but if he didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't push him. She trusted that if it was really important, he would let her know.

Anakin watched as she disappeared through the archway leading into their apartment, then turned back to watch the city below him. He could feel he had upset her by keeping his own emotions to himself, even if she hadn't shown it, and this just brought another wave of grief over him.

When she came home, he hadn't been meditating. He had been watching, picking out every little detail of the city and hating them, just like he had the couch. He hated the different fashions of each culture apparent on the streets. He hated the view of the senate building, and even that of the Jedi temple far in the distance. This was his method of forgetting his problems, and it had worked up until then.

'I hate you,' he thought, glaring down at a parked speeder on the street. He didn't realize how childish it was that he was standing there, hating things because he had backed himself into an emotional corner and needed something to take out all the emotions he wasn't allowed to have on.

Padme appeared at the pillar again, and hesitated before walking to him, around him. She slipped her arms loosely around his neck, and his wrapped around her waist like vines, pulling their bodies into each other.

"Tell me what's bothering you," she begged, staring adamantly up at him. As serious as her gaze was, there was softness in it. Anakin had seen that soft accent to her eyes before, and had long ago compared it to his mother's. It was as if that small hint of it in her stare was everything she felt for him. To Anakin, Padme held everything in her eyes, and she had a special way of coaxing things out of him simply by locking gazes. His mother had done the same to him as a boy.

Before his mind could stop his heart from speaking, Anakin heard himself say, "Let's go now."

Padme's face contorted in puzzlement.

"Now?" She asked. "Anakin, we can't. There's so much we've got to take care of before we can leave."

"What have we got to take care of?" He could feel himself fighting back an unwelcome grin. "Anything we do here won't matter to us on Naboo."

Padme shook her head, seeing right through his attempt at avoiding her question.

"You're not thinking rationally," She stated. "You're keeping something from me," she accused. "Tell me," finally, she pleaded. Her hands found their way into his hair again, like playing with it was some sort of comfort blanket to her.

Anakin stared at her disbelievingly for a moment, before shaking her hands away from his head and pulling completely away. He turned his back to her, then, over his shoulder, mumbled, "I can't."

Whether it was out of frustration or desperation, Padme didn't know, but she felt tears pool up in her eyes, threatening to boil over and release the tears down her soft cheeks. She followed him and came around him again, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"What's so important that you can't tell your own wife? What do you need to keep so hidden from me?" Hard as she tried, she couldn't keep her voice from cracking. Anakin saw the through the confidence she presented so well, and silently cursed himself for causing Padme to worry.

He forced a comforting grin onto is face, and assured here, "It's nothing, my angel." He pulled her back into him, and her arms fell to rest against his chest with the rest of her body.

"If it's nothing," she whispered, "then tell me."

Anakin silently fought with himself over this for a moment. When he couldn't find the wording, or a way to explain what was truly bothering him, he revealed, "The Jedi are sending Obi-Wan and I on another mission."

Padme pulled back slightly to look up at him. "How long this time?" She asked, her eyes searching his face for anything else he might be hiding. What she was planning to find in the fold of his nose or deep within the scar that so frequently reminded them that the past was real was beyond her, but she searched anyway.

All he could offer her, though, was a helpless shrug.

"Could be weeks," he said, "Could be months. It depends on how long it takes us to find out whatever we need to find out."

With a heavy sigh, Padme nodded her head in understanding. Like so much else, the council had to be secretive, even to their own, Jedi when it came to missions.

It didn't use to be that way, she remembered. Before the wars, the Jedi were peace-keepers. Masters of negotiation. Everything they did was first run by the senate. Most of what they did was at the senate's request. Now, they were soldiers, just like the clones. They did things the way they saw fit, and constantly reminded each other to trust no one except their own.

"When do you leave?" She asked in final desperation. Anakin dropped his gaze and it was his turn to sigh.

"Tomorrow," he said slowly, but then quickly added, "But if we leave tonight I can avoid the mission and-"

"No," Padme cut him off, shaking her head. "Obi-Wan needs you. The Jedi need you. They need you more than I do." She stroked the back of his head and smiled at him reassuringly, spotting the doubt in his own face.

"You'll return to me soon," she stated. "I can feel it. And I'll be fine while you're gone. I've got my handmaidens and Captain Typho to look over me until then."

Anakin smiled, comforted by her confidence. "Thank you," he told her, just as he had his mother earlier that day.

"Go do your duties," Padme told her husband, pressed flat against the doors of the turbolift. "Come back to me quickly."

"I will," Anakin promised, leaning against her lightly once more to kiss her.

They had always done this, saying goodbye in the apartment because doing so at the docking bay was not safe. They always plastered on smiles, pretending to be happy for the sake of the other, but both secretly gave a little of their heart to the other as well.

He smiled reassuringly to her, and added playfully, "Don't go running off to Naboo when I should be getting home."

They both laughed lightly, remembering a time when she had gone to Naboo on a surprise visit to her family, and he had gotten home while she was gone. He had been so scared something had happened to her, and spent the two days locked in the dark apartment. He was overcome with joy when she walked in, perfectly fine, and though the time had been dark for him then, they could both laugh about it now.

It was her turn to promise. "I won't," she said through giggles. She brought her hands up to stroke the back of his head as he pressed her into a soft hug. When they pulled apart, Anakin brought his hands to rest around the small bump of her belly.

Padme watched him, positive he was sending their barely formed, unborn child some sort of message. After a moment, he brought his hands to cup her face in them, and kissed her once more. The smiles had disappeared from both their faces, and he stared at her now, pensively.

"Be safe, my love?" He wasn't requesting this of her, like he had done so many times before. He was pleading with her now.

Overcome with the sudden grief of the knowledge that Anakin was about to leave on yet another mission, Padme couldn't muster a response. Instead, she nodded, fighting back tears that she would let loose after his departure.

She bit her lip, furrowed her eyebrows, and looked away, and Anakin saw the obvious struggle. He rubbed her cheeks lightly with his thumbs and kissed her once more, assured enough by her simple nod.

Padme brought her gaze back to him as he pressed his forehead against her own.

"I love you," he whispered. Again, Padme nodded, then pushed the words out.

"I love you too," she replied, bringing her hands to the back of his head again. They closed the small gap between their lips in a passionate kiss, then she pushed out from under him, sure the tears would push through if they stayed much longer.

She watched as he regretfully punched the button for the turbo lift and stepped inside. He brought his hand up, in half of a wave, and forced a reassuring smile back onto his face.

Padme did the same, and mumbled 'I love you' again as the doors shut, cutting him off from her for who knew how long? Then she turned and let the tears she had been fighting back so hard loose, just like she always did when he left. This time, a wave of nausea washed over her, and she brought her hand to her mouth before rushing to the refresher.

As Anakin walked out onto his personal dock, he had to brace himself on the side of his speeder as his vision went blurry. He could feel the world spinning around him, and for a second he thought he would loose consciousness, but as quickly as the sickness had come, it was gone.

He released the speeder and shook his head lightly before climbing in rather clumsily. He was still a little rattled from the unexplainable nausea as he lifted it off the platform and sped off in the direction of the temple.

You guys are fantastic. That's all I can say.

However, I spotted a mistake on my own part. I'd hate to point it out, but it seems in my haste of coming up with that last chapter, the time Anakin has supposedly been home is at least a few months if you'll see, when he's talking to his mom, he mentions how Padme's stomach has grown, but when he was talking to Obi-Wan, protesting about the mission, he mentions they've only been home a few days. Well, looking over this requires a bit of help on your part; You can either 'pretend' Anakin never said that to Obi-Wan, and they had in fact been home a while, or you can 'pretend' he didn't say that to his mom, but uh, that'd take some meaning away from the chapter i personally liked that part. I'd opt for the first, but it's really up to you. Sorry for the confusion!

Response Reviews; Chapter Four

donnatellaMarks; It will all come in time, I promise.

geckogirl; Hm, we'll see. ; -Aw's-

FelsGoddess; Why, thank you.

Chopsticks; Ah, I see. I'll have to look into them.

Again, I see. Well, I love fluff then, because I love all that sappy stuff. :P

Yes, I've got to credit the muse there.

Well, my take on Star Wars is that people really are kind of not looking past what's directly in front of them. I won't launch into a big explanation, because I could probably write a whole nother story on simply that, but I mean-- A lot of obvious things are looked over, if you really think about it, that could have prevented even more things from happening. I hopefully wasn't the only one sitting there in the movie theater holding my head in frustration and going, "COME ON."

Thanks.

Sapphira001; Well then you and your finace' are really cute and I admire your relationship. Kudos.

Thank you times like, three. I'll have to remember that.

Chapter Five

Coral Candy; Thank you, and I'm sorry, but he must. :

Sapphira001; I'm sorry. I tried to make this one longer, just for you.

Chopsticks; Maybe I am... Intrigued? Yea, I actually sort of depressed myself with that, but I felt I had to add it, just for effect, you know? Gatta credit that muse again.

Hm. I don't know what happened to me there? I used to capitalize 'Jedi', but this chapter it kind of fell through, huh? Well, thanks, I'll watch out for that now.

There will be more of both, I promise.

FelsGoddess; I'll pretend I didn't have to go and look up 'bittersweet.' : Thank you.

IIIII should have another chapter up in a few days. Keep reviewing.