A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated! First school owned my life, and then writer's block… or at least editor's block… set in. In this chapter I had to draw out the awkward just a bit more, but I promise the next chapter is when they will tell Ruwee and Jobal, so stay tuned. And since it's been so long, I'm going to take a moment to respond to some of your lovely comments.
Everybody: Thank you! You're all so nice! I've never gotten so many comments so quickly! You rock!
Kazzy: Since you 'most always respond when I comment to you, I'll go ahead and say I'm honored that you like my little fic! Don't worry, I'm sure everything will turn out all right for the Naberries and Skywalkers… in this story, anyway. Anyway, your comment made me laugh and directly inspired one of Pooja's lines when I was stuck on what should happen here, so many thanks.
Roguester: Aw, I'm honored that this was the first Star Wars fanfic you read! Glad you like it!
Emerald Green Queen: For my future writing plans, see my profile.
Serabiwarrior88: Hehe, and I don't have a sister at all! Guess it's the fantasy of the ideal relationship kicking in. ;)
hellohello: Yes, I am going to finish this, and your review actually motivated me to hurry up with the painful process of editing.
tigger 889: Find out in the next chapter! And you hold down the Alt key and press 0233. Took me forever to figure that out, too.
Finally, thanks to Alicia for reading her email so frequently. Now, on to the chapter!
Chapter Three: Not Yet
The first things Padmé saw upon entering the dining room were the innocent, smiling faces of Ryoo and Pooja. She was already on edge; this did nothing to relax her. There was no way, she realized, that she could have this conversation with her nieces sitting across from her. The topic could easily become too adult. Yet if she did not speak up now the issue immediately became even more complicated. It would be hard enough to act like nothing was out of the ordinary while seated immediately next to Anakin at a table where the conversation would inevitably revolve around the time she and Anakin had recently spent together, but she would now have to do this knowing that at any moment either of her nieces, being only little girls, could break the news for her. She doubted Ruwee and Jobal would be amused at such a turn of events.
There was more than enough food for the eight people seated at the table, and Jobal seemed immensely pleased that Anakin wasted no time in stating that it was delicious. Padmé smiled at him encouragingly. She didn't know if the compliment was intended solely to make her mother like him more, but it certainly did not hurt.
Pooja, in turn, wasted no time in declaring, "Anakin's arm is scary 'cause it got cut off." The adults chuckled. Padmé sighed, grateful that that was the first thing Pooja had chosen to blurt out.
"Did it happen in the battle?" Ruwee inquired.
"Yes. My Master and I were dueling Count Dooku."
Darred stared. "Your arm was severed by the leader of the Separatists?" Anakin nodded. Padmé could see that he was slightly uncomfortable at the line of questioning, but they both knew that was better, or at least safer, than discussing anything that had happened after the duel with Dooku. There was one person at the table, however, who was even more uncomfortable with the topic than Anakin.
"Now, this is hardly proper dinner table conversation, is it?" Jobal cut in quickly. "I don't want to hear any more about that horrible battle, or the war, or Count Dooku, or the Separatists. We've all heard quite enough already."
"I'm sorry," Anakin apologized, abashed.
"Don't worry about it, Anakin." She broke the tension with a bright smile. "Tell us what the two of you did while you were in the Lake Country."
Padmé and Anakin exchanged nervous glances. Out of the corner of her eye, Padmé could see Sola trying to stifle her amusement.
"Um… Not much, Mom," Padmé answered.
"Did you have to stay in the house?" Ruwee asked, oblivious to his daughter's discomfort. "That region is beautiful this time of year."
"We… had a picnic," Anakin offered.
"Well, that's nice," said Jobal. Sola was laughing into her napkin, and Padmé tried to glare at her without the others noticing.
Ryoo piped up. "Did you see the shaaks?"
"Yes." Anakin's mischievous smile appeared. "Actually, I rode one of the shaaks."
The girls gasped. "You did not!" Pooja uttered defiantly.
Ryoo appealed to a higher authority. "Did he, Aunt Padmé?"
"He did," Padmé confirmed. "And almost broke his neck in the process."
The padawan raised his eyebrows. "That didn't stop you from joining me on the ride back."
Padmé shot Anakin a look of utter disbelief, which was met only with a playful shrug.
Ryoo and Pooja squealed in delight, bouncing up and down in their seats.
"Daddy, can we ride the shaaks?" Pooja asked.
"No."
Ryoo pouted. "Not even with Anakin?"
"No," Sola and Darred unanimously declared.
"Forget the shaaks," Anakin told them, and winked. "Someday I'll get you riding a fambaa." Padmé laughed.
Jobal eyed her daughter with a knowing smile. "It sounds like you had fun."
"We did." Under the table, out of sight, Padmé put her hand on Anakin's, forgetting, for a moment, that they had anything to hide. "We had a lot of time to talk, to get to know one another again." She nearly told them, then and there. It would have been so easy; she had, after all, been only overreacting. But her father spoke up before she could put her thoughts into words.
"In speaking of talk," Ruwee put in, "what was it that Sabé had to tell you about the minute you got back?"
The smile vanished from Padmé's face. "Cordé and Versé's memorial services. I hadn't even left Coruscant yet when…" She shook her head. "I should have been there. I should have found a way to go."
"It wasn't safe," Ruwee told her. "You know that. If you'd come out in public that way, you would have been a clear target for your attacker."
"They died for me," Padmé persisted. "I should have gone. I owe them that at least. I should do something." She sighed. "I need to visit their families."
"Enough." The sharpness of Jobal's voice startled her daughter, and everyone at the table, into silence. It was Ryoo, finally, who cheerfully broke the awkward moment.
"Anakin has a funny droid." Pooja giggled her agreement.
"Oh, is it that protocol droid who's following Artoo everywhere?" Darred picked up the conversation.
"Yes, that's Threepio," Anakin answered. "And actually, he's not mine. He's Padmé's now."
"Really?" Sola prompted him to continue.
"Yes, I built him when I was a boy on Tatooine, but Jedi aren't allowed possessions. So, when my mother's family gave him back to me, I asked Padmé if she'd like to have a new friend around. A Senator would probably have more use for a protocol droid than a Jedi anyway. I gave him to her…" He nearly said, the day of the wedding. "A few days ago. Before we went back to the Lake Country."
"That was nice of you," Jobal smiled.
"Anakin loves Aunt Padmé!" Pooja suddenly exclaimed. Anakin and Padmé's heads snapped in her direction, while Sola nearly choked on a mouthful of food.
"Don't be silly, Pooja," Jobal said, frowning. "Anakin is a Jedi padawan learner."
"But he does!" the girl insisted.
Ruwee's mouth twitched in amusement as he asked, "What makes you think that, Pooja?"
"Because he said so!"
Anakin looked like a rug had been pulled out from under him. He turned to Padmé, who was equally frozen, and then to Ruwee and Jobal, opening and closing his mouth in wordless desperation.
"Pooja…" Darred said.
"But I saw them kissing in the laundry room and she said that maybe she was going to marry him!"
A tense moment passed; nobody seemed quite sure what to make of this. Padmé and Anakin relaxed slightly, however, as Ruwee started to chuckle to himself, shaking his head at Pooja. Jobal seemed about to speak again when she caught Padmé's expression. Her look of exasperation with her granddaughter faded into acute uncertainty.
Fortunately, Sola jumped in. "Pooja, what have we told you about making up lies about people?" she asked the little girl in such a solemn tone that Padmé could barely keep from smiling.
"But we saw them! Didn't we, Ryoo?"
But the older girl was frowning very pointedly at her sister. "No, we didn't. Remember?"
Pooja's eyebrows knit in confusion for just a moment, until she looked up at Padmé and seemed to remember. Her face instantly brightened and she smiled widely at her aunt. "Oh! She's right, we didn't. Nevermind."
Padmé focused very hard on her plate because she knew that if she so much as ventured a glance at Anakin they would both burst out laughing, partly from sheer relief. By the time she could look up, Sola was already standing and clearing the table, and Padmé joined her. She was not at all surprised when Sola cornered her in the kitchen a few seconds later.
"You can't tell them in front of Ryoo and Pooja," Sola said. No doubt Padmé's concerns had also occurred to her sister.
"I know," Padmé assured her. "Why did you think I didn't say anything at dinner?" She smiled. "Especially when your daughter gave me such a perfect opening."
"They caught you kissing?" Sola rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. Very smooth. That is going to take a lot of explaining back at my house."
"It wasn't exactly the most comfortable moment of my life, either. But you see why I have to say something soon."
"I'm taking the kids home. You can do it as soon as we're gone."
Padmé shook her head frantically. "I need you here. You're our moral support."
"Oh, all right." Sola gave an exasperated sigh. "I can tell Mom I'm coming over early to help with breakfast. At breakfast, you and Anakin can make your announcement. Not just can—will."
"Thank you." Padmé beamed with gratitude, but Sola only rolled her eyes again.
"You owe me, little sister."
And so that evening Anakin and Padmé Skywalker prepared to spend their first night apart since they'd been married. Padmé had known this would happen eventually, although she'd assumed that when it did, her husband would be on some distant planet serving the Republic and not downstairs in her parents' guest room. For a long time she stared into the darkness, trying to sleep. She called to mind all of the most boring committee meetings and Senate procedures she could remember, but remained just as awake as ever. Her thoughts kept straying back to Anakin. She missed him.
This is ridiculous, she thought. He's just downstairs!
But the feeling remained. She missed the sound of his breathing, the warmth of his body next to hers, his touch, his kisses…
Perhaps if she could just see him, only for a minute…
The thought had barely materialized in her mind before she was out of bed and as quietly as possible making her way down the stairs. Although she made no sound, Anakin looked up as he sensed her approach. He was not in the guest bedroom, but sitting on the couch, his posture betraying a restlessness that matched hers.
"Couldn't sleep, either?" he asked.
"Maybe I just didn't want to spend the fourth night of my honeymoon without even a goodnight kiss."
In answer he kissed her with a gentle passion.
"Goodnight," she whispered breathlessly when they parted.
"Goodnight." He kissed her again.
"I'm sorry you have to sleep down here. And I'm sorry things were so awkward today."
"It was… interesting," he admitted. " Don't be sorry. It was much more eventful than your average wedding announcement."
"Ani," she said, surprised, "I think you may have acquired some of that Jedi patience after all."
"I'd have had to." He pulled her close to him. "I finally got you to marry me, didn't I?"
They kissed once more.
"I ought to go back…" she murmured.
His voice was a whisper in the dark.
"Stay a little while."