TrinityDay-thanks for the constructive feedback...I did have a hard time writing the last chapter. I will take a look and see if there's anyway to clarify. :)


The Long Goodbye

The sleek, silver body of the Naboo Cruiser was slicing the silence of space at speeds that would deliver Yennaj's body to Corellia within the day. Padmé was sitting in the cockpit next to C-3PO (reactivated and telling all who would listen about his harrowing tale of imprisonment and deactivation), her hands in her lap staring into space with a far away expression on her face. The ship was on autopilot, the route they had plotted taking them around most of the action of the war.

"Mistress Padmé, if you won't be needing me, I think I'll shut down for awhile," C-3PO's proper voice startled Padmé out of her stare.

"That's fine, Threepio," she responded distractedly. She couldn't get her mind off Anakin. They hadn't been able to say goodbye, the Jedi Council had called Obi-Wan and Anakin in for a session after Davad was apprehended. And Anakin hadn't returned before Padmé had to leave.

Padmé sighed and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted after the action and hijinks of the day.

"Maybe I'll lay down for a moment," she whispered to herself. C-3PO sat dark and silent in the co-pilot seat. Padmé glanced upon the droid and smiled, remembering when Anakin offered him to her. She let her fingers trace the cold metal of C-3PO's shoulder, feeling the care that Anakin must have had to create this droid for his mother. If only she had lived to see him…

Padmé hit the button to activate the small bunk hidden in the wall of the cockpit. Padmé sat on the bunk, sighing with relief and the prospect of sleep. She laid her head down, and almost instantly she was asleep.

She was walking down a bright white corridor. Padmé felt an urgency to get to the end of the hall, but the hallway appeared to be never-ending, and as Padmé walked she got no closer to the end. She tried to open the doors along the hall, but they were locked. Suddenly ahead of her she saw C-3PO standing next to one of her favorite gowns, the delicate flowery gown she wore on Naboo when she and Anakin had gone on the picnic before they were married. The dress was standing on its own, as if there was an invisible person inside. As Padmé drew closer to C-3PO he started speaking to her but she couldn't understand him. His words were punctuated with beeping and whistling and he sounded like R2-D2. As Padmé stood before 3PO, his whistles and beeping became more insistent, louder. Padmé tried to cover her ears, as the tone of the beeps was very uncomfortable and slightly annoying. But no matter how hard she pressed her hands to her ears nor how far she tried to get from C-3PO, the beeping and whistling was piercing. "What?" she yelled.

Padmé sat up on the bunk, having woken herself up with her yell. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, and as she sat on the small bunk slowly recollecting where she was and why she was here she heard a beeping in the background.

She stood and the bunk, sensing her weight gone, slowly slid back into the wall. Padmé walked over to the control panel of the ship, the beeping coming from the communications console. There was someone trying to contact her.

Padmé activated the holo-receiver and a blue shadowy image, somewhat distorted by time and space, appeared in front of her.

"Anakin!" Padmé smiled, so happy to see him, even if it was over holo.

"Where were you? I have been calling for several minutes, I was about to take off after you!" Anakin, concerned, spoke hurriedly.

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep and was dreaming of my clothes," Padmé said. Anakin's expression changed from concerned to mildly amused.

"Your clothes?" He looked as though he wanted to laugh, but he shook his head slightly instead, smiling for a moment before his expression turned more serious. "Padmé, I only have a few minutes alone before Obi-Wan arrives. The council is sending us on another mission to the Outer Rim Worlds. All I can tell you is it might be a long time before we return. But I had to talk to you, to see you, even if over holo. Please be careful on your trip, and express my condolences to Yennaj's family, if you will."

"Of course I will, Anakin. You be careful too. I know the council tends to send you and Obi-Wan on some of the more dangerous missions, so please, remember you have to come back to me!"

Anakin grinned and Padmé fell in love with him again, for probably the hundredth time. "Of course I'll come back. I would never leave you alone, or cause you pain. I will do everything within my power to expedite this mission and get back to you. Maybe I'll end the war in the process." Anakin winked.

Padmé returned his smile. "I love you."

Anakin, still smiling nodded. "And I love-," but he stopped and turned his head quickly to the side, throwing his hand up in a gesture of silence.

Padmé's pulse quickened, but as Anakin turned back to face her she relaxed. "False alarm. I thought I'd heard Obi-Wan. I love you, Padmé. I always have and I always will."

The two stared at each other for a moment-Padmé knew there was so much more to say, but she couldn't. It was too hard. She decided she liked it better when there was no opportunity to say goodbye. It was easier on her heart. Padmé felt her eyes prickling with the threat of tears, so she rubbed them again.

"Padmé, I know," Anakin said after a moment, the tone of his voice indicating that he did know, he always knew, Padmé thought. Padmé smiled sadly as a single tear escaped out of her eye. She reached her hand out to the holo of Anakin, her fingers moving through him, causing distortion in the image. Anakin mirrored her action, and Padmé could see his own hand reaching out to her.

Suddenly, he turned again, looking to the side. "Obi-Wan," was all he said as the holo disappeared. Padmé dropped her hand to her lap, the tears now flowing freely. The weight of the last few days and the difficulty of saying goodbye to Anakin had finally caught up to her. Padmé dropped her head in her hands and allowed herself to feel, finally. So she cried. She cried until there was nothing left in her to cry.

Padmé was still sitting with her face in her hands when the proximity sensor on the Cruiser starting beeping. She looked up, and saw she was approaching Corellia. She took the ship off autopilot, and after reactivating C-3PO, she took the Cruiser down to planet. She was composed and prepared for her diplomatic duty as well as her own, personal, duty to Yennaj, Yennaj's family and most of all, Yennaj's son.

END

Epilogue coming soon…