FORGIVABLE SINNERS
By Laura-chan
Summary: What if Anakin never had dreams of Padmé dying? Would he have fallen in the Sith's grasp? In this AU of RoS Anakin and Padmé, while trying to end the war, struggle to keep secret their relationship, even with their two children, Luke and Leia.
Time: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. AU
Rating: R or M
Pairing: Anakin/Padmé, my favorite.
Warnings: This story is rated R/M for a reason; in future chapters there will be strong scenes.
Also, don't mind too much my mistakes, please - I'm Italian and English is not my first language.
AN: I went to see RotS for the second time (after three times of 'Batman Begins', because of my friends, I wanted to see again SW!)… simply wonderful. I almost cried, while my friend was joking about the little green 'thing' (Yoda), the man-who-needs-a-mask (Palpatine) and the peluches (the Wookies). I saw once again Hayden bare-chested… :drool:
Well, I was able to update before leaving… enjoy!
CHAPTER 9:
Padmé Amidala sat on her bedroom: just a day ago, she had given birth to her children. 'Ours' she thought smiling, 'Anakin's and mine.'
While the doctors had insisted that she should be kept in hospital for at least three days, her family had firmly refused: Padmé had already been quite stressed, and being in hospital would do nothing to soothe her nerves. And with that, she agreed completely.
She looked out of the window, seeing some of the many men Captain Typho had situated all around the home: they weren't going to take any chances anymore.
The Senator turned her head as Sola entered the room, in her hands a tray with some tea for the two of them: Padmé smiled gratefully at her sister, taking a cup and drinking the sweet-smelling liquid.
"The Jedi Council contacted us." Sola said, "Master Windu was worried about you: then, he told me he has sent a Jedi to protect you… he's going to arrive soon."
She chuckled when noticed the interest in her sister's eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't know who they had sent. We can only hope it's Anakin. If Obi-wan found him, of course."
"I know he's still alive." Padmé smiled wistfully. Then, she stroked her son's cheek; he was sleeping soundly in his crib and she believed he was beautiful like his sister.
She hoped that Anakin could see them soon.
His heart beated fast as he neared with a fast pace his wife's house, his face semi-covered by the hood of his cloak: apprehension for her well-being, love and nervousness mixed in his soul.
"Halt!" a voice called from the shadows.
Anakin stopped walking: before him stood Captain Typho, Padmé's head of security.
"Are you the Jedi?" the dark-skinned man asked with an arched brow.
"Nice to meet you again, Captain." He said, moving his hood enough for Typho to see his face.
"Skywalker!" the older man exclaimed, surprised. "Now I really feel better! With you here this killer will surely be captured."
Anakin smiled. "It's a pleasure working with you once more, Typho. But now I have to see the Senator."
"Of course." Typho nodded and with a gesture of his hand he signaled to his men to let the young Jedi pass.
Anakin suddenly found himself before the front door of the Naberrie's house: Anakin scanned the house with the Force and could 'see' Jobal, Ruwee and Sola - in the living room - and Padmé - in her chamber. Together with Padmé's aura there were two weak souls… his heartbeat quickened once again: could it be…? His children…?
'Well, there is only one way to find out.' He sighed inwardly, happiness filling his entire being, as the dark thoughts that had confused his mind during his travel disappeared: Padmé's presence always had this calming effect on him.
A loud knock startled him and he fixed fascinatingly his own hand touching the hard wooden door.
Immediately, a middle-aged woman appeared in the door opening, her expression anxious but relieved; Anakin recognized Jobal and smiled reassuringly at her.
"You are the Jedi sent to protect my daughter." It was a statement more than a question, and he wondered if she had recognized him at all: after all, he had changed much in three years of war.
"Yes, I am." Anakin was just about to introduce himself when the woman, with surprising strenght, pulled him inside.
"You have to protect Padmè! You simply have to! How can someone be so horrible to try to kill her! I really don't understand." The older woman babbled between sobs.
His eyes hardened at the thought of someone wanting to hurt his Padmé. "I'll do my best, Mrs Naberrie."
"How are things going on Coruscant?" Jobal asked interested.
He just sighed. "Confused and corrupted is now the Galactic Senate; and between the Chancellor and the Council there is nervousness. This is a difficult moment for the Republic."
Jobal shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that… now that we need to be united…"
After going upstairs, they stopped in front of a blue door. "This is Padmé's room… please be gentle, " she hesitated "… she had a difficult labour, and even if she doesn't admit it she's tired and stressed. If only her husband were here…"
"Husband?" Anakin's tone was curious. Padmé had told her family about them? But why?
Jobal's shoulders stiffened.
"It doesn't matter." She answered roughly.
She knocked at the door, then opened it a bit. "Padmé, dear? The Jedi is here. I'll let you alone so you… can talk." Jobal moved to the side and signed at Anakin to enter.
After he did this, Padmé's mother closed gently the door, leaving him alone with his wife for the first time in almost two months.
She had her back turned to him as she fussed over two wooden cribs; she wore a simple white dress with a belt around her petite waist.
"Master Jedi." She greeted, still not looking at him. "What can I do for you now?"
Padmé felt terribly disappointed by the fact that the Council hadn't sent her husband: she was sure that if Anakin had entered her house, Sola would have told her immediately. And, if her mother had been so cold with this Jedi, then he couldn't possibly be her love.
Anakin smirked, amused, as he took off his hood, letting it fall over his back. "Well, I wouldn't mind a kiss, but a hug is enough for now."
Padmé's eyes widened, recognizing the voice, and she turned around: a smile broke on her face, as tears began streaming down her cheeks. He opened his arms as she ran right into them, her own arms wrapping around his shoulders, her nose pressed in the hollow of his neck.
The young Jedi staggered backwards as his wife wrapped her legs around his waist, leaving him to completely support her weight: to keep his balance he leaned against the wall, his hands beneath her rear.
"Owff!" Anakin joked. "You're heavy, you know, Padmé?"
"Stupid Jedi!" she cried, "I was so worried! When Obi-wan told me you were missing… oh my God, Ani, you're here! You're really here!"
Her hands gripped his beautiful hair desperately, as they fervently kissed, her tongues playing with each other.
"I'm here, Padmé." He said, breaking the kiss, his azure eyes soft. "I'm not going to leave you soon." Then, he grinned. "After all, I have to protect you again."
"Just like three years ago." She nuzzled his cheek.
He kissed the side of her neck, murmuring "I missed you so much! So much!" His eyes turned hard, but sad. "I'm sorry I wasn't here, to protect you, to see our children's birth… I'm so sorry…"
"Anakin…" she realized he was blaming himself for not being there with her. "It's not your fault, love… I admit I missed you too, but I knew you had a duty to fulfil."
"You're always talking about duty!" he spat violently. "I don't care, Padmé! I don't care about my duties as a Jedi, if it means losing you or the children!" Anakin stared at her with desperate eyes "You're my everything, the only constant thing in my life since I was a child… I can't lose you, I won't lose you!"
Padmé watched, taken aback, the deep suffering he was in: with a hand she caressed his rough cheek, not knowing -for the first time in her life - what to say.
Fortunately, he calmed down. "You always have a soothing effect on me." he whispered, turning a bit his head to kiss the palm of the hand caressing him. "I'm sorry I yelled… I'm just frustrated."
"Don't worry, Ani." Padmé smiled. "Now, the only thing that matters is that you're with me… with us."
Anakin let her down and she took his hand, leading him to the cribs, situated near the bed: two beautiful new-borns were sleeping soundly, and Anakin's eyes softened when he saw they were a male and a female.
Padmé hugged his left arm, leaning her head on his broad shoulder, as he felt a great emotion taking hold of his heart.
"What are their names?" he asked in a broken whisper, almost afraid that if he talked louder, he would wake the sleeping angels.
"I only named the female: she's Leia. I… I wanted you to name the male." she admitted.
Anakin said nothing: after a moment, he took his son in his strong arms and looked at him for a long time. The infant struggled a bit and then woke up: staring right into his father's eyes.
Padmé observed fascinated as father and son watched each other for a long time, a bond creating between the two of them.
"Luke." Anakin finally said, lowering the baby into his crib. "His name will be Luke."
"Luke and Leia." Padmé murmured. "Perfect names for perfect children." And she smiled up at her husband, who bent his head to kiss her again.
A loud, metallic knock startled them apart.
"Milady, Madame Jobal asks you i---" the golden droid also known as C-3PO stopped talking when he saw a familiar figure near his mistress. "Master Anakin! What a joy to see you again well ad with all of your bolts!"
"Hello 3PO!" the young Jedi laughed.
"3PO, what does my mother want?"
"Oh, Madame Jobal says that if you want to eat dinner is ready-- " the couple exchanged an amused look, both knowing well that no one ever left the Naberrie's house hungry, "-- and asks if you're going down soon."
"Tell my mother we'll be down soon… but don't say anything about Anakin's return! I want it to be a surprise."
"Of course, milady… I'll leave you two alone." He bowed - or, at least, he did as much as his metallic body permitted - and exited the room.
Anakin wrapped an arm around Padmé's shoulders as they turned to watch their children, now both awake and staring back at them. Then, he broke the silence.
"Padmé… did you tell your family about our marriage?" there was no accusation in his voice, only sincere curiosity.
She exaled, "Yes: I had to… You see, this old friend of mine was persuaded that I'd need a man to play the father of my -our- children… so he proposed to me." she laughed quietly "It was quite an embarassing moment."
"He did what?" Anakin hissed angrily.
"Anakin…" Padmé noticed the rage in his eyes and, knowing he was easily angered, she tried to calm him down. "He didn't know…"
"Don't you try to defend him!" he shouted, his fist clenching and unclenching, trying to suppress the urge to hunt down this man who dared proposing to her and slaughter him… Jealousy clouded his mind, obscure thoughts running all over his brain, voices telling him to protect what was righfully his, seductive whispers claiming that this man had wanted to take her away from him, her and their children….
"Please, Anakin, be reasonable! Zak thought he was doing me a favour: he wanted to 'save' me from the shame of being a single mother! But I explained I couldn't marry him because I'm already married and with the only man I'll ever love! I love you, Ani…" Padmé pleaded, trying to soothe his rage.
With a deep breath, the young Jedi calmed down, deeply relieved by Padmé's words.
"Padmé…" he murmured, only to take her lips in a bruising kiss, trying to pour his frustration in it; he kissed her possessively, passionately, furiously, ferociously, his fingers digging in her brown curls as she responded fervently.
When they broke off, they were both panting heavily.
"I'm afraid, Padmé." He suddenly confessed. "You're too perfect for me: I'm afraid one day you'll simply disappear… I won't be able to take it."
"I'm not going away, Ani, I'm not leaving you." She said, kissing his nose. "I love you."
"I love you too. But I'm so jealous!"
He started walking around the room in long strides, before stopping, looking at the ceiling and passing his mechanical hand through his hair. He exaled, letting the feeling of peacefulness he always felt when there was Padmé around wash over him like a wave.
"I trust you, but I don't trust them."
"Them?" she wondered out loudly.
"Sometimes, I feel like everyone and everything is trying to steal you from me: the Senate, the war, your and my obligations… and now this Zak person." He spat out the name. "When will we be able to stay together as a family?" he asked, taking her in his arms.
His muscles were tense under her hands.
"Ani, no one will ever take me from you: because I'm yours, I've been yours since we met in Watto's shop."
He relaxed and they kissed again, softly this time, letting their love flow through them.
Padmé caressed his cheek and smiled up at him. "Come on, my family is waiting for us to go down."
They were almost out of the room, when Anakin turned back and went to stand before the cribs.
"Ani?" she asked.
"I want to take them with us: I want to stay with my children as long as I can." He explained simply.
Padmé nodded and went to take Luke in her arms before following her husband - with Leia - out of the door.
Ruwee Naberrie was drumming his fingers on the table, waiting quite impatiently for his daughter and her new Jedi protector to come down: he had been quite irritated when he learned that his wife had left Padmé with this stranger.
"They need to get to know each other." Jobal had said wisely. "And this Jedi could probably give her news of our son-in-law."
Ruwee was a patient and understanding man, but after all that happened to his family, his younger daughter especially, he was a bit wary: even if he knew Captain Typho and trusted him, he wasn't completely sure that Padmé was safe…
He sighed: he only hoped this Jedi could protect her and found out who wanted to kill her.
Ruwee watched around the table; Jobal, Darred and Sola were talking between each other amicably, while Ryoo and Pooja were playing some game of theirs. But who captured his gaze was Zak: he was just sitting there with a blank stare, still devastated from the news of Padmé's marriage and pregnancy.
The older man had knew about Zak's love for Padmé for a long time and had hoped she would settle down with him, in the end. How foolish! He should have comprehended that his daughter wouldn't have wanted someone so plain and quiet as Zak, but would have preferred a passionate and exciting man.
And that did nothing to calm Ruwee down.
He had not been happy when he learned that Padmé had married secretely, hiding it even from her own family: but he understood her point of view and respected her choices.
Ruwee only hoped to meet his new son-in-law soon: he remembered talking with him - when he and Padmé went back to Naboo three years before - and he could easily agree with his daughter's will to marry the boy. Anakin Skywalker, from what he remembered, had been sincere and completely devoted to Padmè. Not to forget, he had watched her with truly enamored eyes.
The middle-age man sighed.
Finally, Padmé made her appearence, walking into the dining room with Luke, the Jedi following closely. Ruwee frowned when he noticed that the young man was holding Leia; why had Padmé allowed him to take into his arms one of Ruwee's precious grandchıldren?
He observed for the first time the young Jedi; he was tall and - Ruwee admitted - quite handsome, his stride was proud and confident and his face was friendly: but what hit Ruwee the most was that he looked familiar, really familiar.
'Where could I have seen him?' he wondered.
A gasp on his right caught his attention: Sola had both of her hands before her mouth as her eyes shined happily. "Oh, Force….!" She whispered.
Almost all eyes were now on Sola, but Ruwee's took their time to watch the other table-companions: Jobal and Darred looked quite confused, while Zak had blanched and seemed to have seen a ghost.
"It's really you!" shrieked Sola, raising from the chair and running to hug the young Jedi, who was now quite embarassed, red coloring his cheeks.
"Hello, Sola." He said gently in a low, rough voice.
"I'm really happy to see you again!" she thenturned to her sister. "Are you happy, now?"
"Sola…" Padmé groaned.
"Sola, do you know our guest?" Jobal asked, quite stunned by this turn of the events.
But Ruwee just watched with wide open eyes: he recognized that voice. Sure, it had changed in the last few years, becoming harder and harsher, but it was the same tone………
"Oh, I'm sorry: I forgot to introduce myself before." The young man said, bowing slightly his head.
"I'm Anakin Skywalker."
(to be continued)
AN: Aren't I evil, uh?
Well, tomorrow I'm really leaving so… see you in two weeks!
Review Responses:
As always, and HUGE and GRATEFUL THANK YOU to all of my reviewers, but also to all of you who read the story, but got too lazy to review (I know that happens, I'm lazy too sometimes).
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PhantomFan13, meandmysharpie (you're going to hate me…), Coral Candy, Barbossa'sApples, Cataracta, Piscean Wisdom, FelsGoddess, itsyourdestiny, MaraJadeJediMaster (I didn't know! Thank you!), Serina Tsuki, Snow Lepord, SWBabygirl14, Warior, Twilight Princ3ss, Graham Mallalieu, Vivilp182, Riderazzo (sorry, the only comic I've read is Obsession), HaydensBaby41981, Jane, iloveobiwanmore, geniusgirl.
Vatel: my parents enjoy traveling and I do too: usually, we go away for 1) New Year 2) Easter 3) Summer, two holidays of 2 weeks each 4) November the 1st (a week) 5) December the 8th (a week).
No door's smashes in this chapter, sorry… but you gave me an idea!
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Jeannie, Samurai, wes, TJ, riam, Kei-kun (you're really sweet and full of compliments!)
AN: well, enjoy your summer! See ya:waves: