SANCTUARY

Chapter Three

Padme's eyes fluttered open slowly and she yawned. Her arms stretched above her head and leisurely sat up against the bed. She sighed, finally feeling relaxed and free from the tiredness and ache that had been chasing her for weeks. Her eyes widened at the darkness in the room and she realized that she had slept for much longer than intended. It only took her a few more moments for her to get out of bed and she switched on the light, her eyes squinting at the sudden brightness.

Her brow furrowed when a small picture on Anakin's dresser caught her eye. She walked over to the dresser and her eyes widened when she realized who was in the picture. She carefully picked it up and smiled softly at the image before her. She was amazed at how happy she looked in the picture, but then again, it had been one of the best days of her life. She sighed and placed the picture back on the dresser. Her life had changed far too quickly after that day.

Her eyes wandered back to the picture and she found herself smiling at the image of a ten-year-old Anakin. He was smiling up at her and when she looked more closely, his eyes seemed to have a little hint of sadness in them. Even in that moment of joy, he had known that he might never see her again. She hadn't even thought of that until after the ceremony was over.

She sighed again. They had both had to grow up too fast.

Her eyes squinted when they caught a glimpse of something sticking out of the picture frame. She picked it up again and turned it around in her hands. Her eyes widened when she realized that some paper was behind the picture in the frame. Against her better judgment, she quickly opened the frame and stared astonished at the letter that sat in her hands. She didn't have to unfold the letter to know what was in it or who it was from. The Nubian letterhead told her that. She clutched the letter tightly and her heart raced quickly at the knowledge that Anakin had saved her letter.

She had sent it to Anakin and Shmi shortly after she found out that Cliegg had freed them. She had almost sent a hologram but then quickly decided it against because that seemed too impersonal. It wasn't very long and she hadn't had enough time to properly say everything she wanted to. But Shmi replied her heartfelt thanks within days and that had been the last she'd heard of Anakin and Shmi. She had always regretted not contacting them after that but her life had become much more hectic when she accepted a seat on the Senate. There just wasn't enough time in the day for her to contact old friends, especially people she had barely known which made Anakin's immediate acceptance of her all the more surprising.

She heard footsteps in the hallway and putting the letter back in its place, she quickly reassembled the frame. Deciding that now was as good a time as any to venture out, she quickly smoothed the creases in her outfit and cautiously opened the door.

"Well, there you are. I was beginning to think you were unconscious in there."

She smiled softly at Owen, who was resting comfortably in the living room. "I just really needed to rest."

He simply shrugged and gestured to her small bag on the floor. "I was going to bring it to you but I didn't want to wake you."

"Thank you."

Owen looked down and rested his chin in his hands before looking back up at her.

"That's a pretty small bag for someone that's staying here indefinitely."

Padme swallowed quickly and shifted her weight nervously. "I know. I couldn't bring very much."

Owen's eyes narrowed slightly and he leaned forward. "You're not in any trouble, are you Padme?"

"No one's going to come looking for me, if that's what you're asking."

"So…you faked your death, then?"

Padme took a small step back, now feeling very uneasy with where the conversation was heading.

Owen frowned and stood up hastily. "I'm not trying to interrogate you, Padme. I just wanted to make sure you're alright because I knew Anakin would never ask you."

She nodded slowly. "Where is he?"

"Oh…he's in his playhouse. Do you want me get him for you?"

"No, that's alright. I can get him…his playhouse?" She cocked an eyebrow and looked at Owen quizzically.

"We run a repair shop. It's right outside. You can't miss it." Owen replied, trying to mask his laughter.

Padme smiled carefully towards Owen then quickly picked up her bag and retreated back to Anakin's room. After setting it down on the floor, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Deciding to avoid Owen's curious eyes, she swiftly exited the room and went through the hallway to find their shop without a single glance his way.

Once she was safely outside, she saw the repair shop almost immediately. It was a small, metal shed that appeared to have been recently painted bright cherry. She smiled faintly. Owen was right. Definitely impossible to miss. She was walking hastily now, although she wasn't quite sure what her hurry was. Perhaps she still felt uneasy over her short conversation with Owen. Or maybe she was eager to walk for awhile, even if was just for a short distance. Even more likely, after everything that happened to her and now that she was destined to reside on this desolate planet, she just needed to see a friendly, familiar face.

It didn't take long for her to reach the shop and when she did, she hesitantly knocked on the door, although she was unsure why. She knew there was no reason to feel hesitant around Anakin. But he had grown into a man that she didn't even pretend to know and that both saddened and scared her.

Anakin opened the door, thrusting her from her thoughts, and his brow immediately furrowed in confusion. "Padme?"

Before she could reply, the sight of him registered in her mind and she grinned heartily for the first time in a very long time. He was covered in grease and the fact that his face was smudged all over certainly didn't make it any easier not to laugh at the sight.

Anakin was only more confused by her reaction to him until he looked down and realized what was so funny. He smiled sheepishly and disappeared into the shop for a moment. He returned to the doorway, shortly, while scrubbing his face with a towel. "Let me guess, Owen told you to come out here."

"Actually Owen offered to get you himself but I wanted to get you. I suppose I just wanted to see your shop."

Anakin nodded slowly, wondering why she would want to see a shed full of broken parts, dust, and grease. After a few moments, he realized that she really did want to see come inside and he moved out of the doorway so she could enter.

She did so cautiously, as if she thought something would fall on her at any moment, and she looked around in quick observance of her surroundings. When her eyes fell on his still injured pod, her eyes widened and she immediately walked over to it. She patted it softly, marveling that it still looked just as she remembered it.

"You still race?"

His head snapped up when he heard her voice. He hadn't been paying much attention to her wanderings and had instead nervously stared at the floor. But now, seeing that she had found it, he was at her side within seconds.

"Yeah, I do. I try to race as much as I can. I'm planning on racing in the Boonta Eve Classic in a few weeks, if I can get my pod fixed by then, that is."

She smiled absent-mindedly, listening as he continued about the other races he had participated in, what place he took, the various problems he was currently facing in repairing his pod. Her hand lightly traced a line along the edge of the machine and she was transported back to a certain time ten years ago when everything was much more complicated but still simpler. She had forgotten the exhilaration of watching a race as well as the overwhelming fear she had felt for Anakin. It seemed like a lifetime ago, when he had so willingly put his life on the line for people he barely knew. She sighed and looked back up at Anakin, who was watching her carefully.

"Where were you just now?"

She paused and looked down for a split second, then met his eyes again. "I was just thinking about that race ten years ago."

He opened his mouth but shut it quickly, unsure of what he was supposed to say. There were so many things he wanted to say to her but he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to. Instead of responding verbally, he helplessly nodded for lack of a better response.

Padme bit her lip at his response, immediately noticing his discomfort. "Are you ready to go in the house? I can wait if you're not…"

"No, no…we can go. Are you hungry at all? I can make you something when we get inside."

She smiled softly at his kindness towards her and nodded slightly. "That would be nice. Thank you."

He grinned back at her, grateful to see her smile and more than willing to do something nice for her. They walked back in silence, both unsure of what to say to the other, both needing to tell the other what was weighing on their consciences.

The griddle sizzled, signaling to Anakin that it was ready for the food he was preparing. He quickly finished chopping the remaining vegetables, splashed a little oil on the griddle, and threw the vegetables and meat on. He turned back to Padme, who was seated across from him on the counter and watching him curiously. He immediately recognized the question in her eyes and shrugged.

"We take turns making the meals…ever since Mom…I mean…"

As he trailed off, Padme's eyes widened in alarm. Suddenly, it made perfect sense. She had noticed that Shmi wasn't there, but hadn't had the opportunity or the energy to ask where she was. Now she understood.

"Oh Ani…I'm sorry…I didn't know."

He shrugged again and turned to the griddle to flip Padme's meal. When he turned back, his eyes had transformed into steely ice. "Well, the death of a former slave doesn't really qualify as news, does it?"

She reached over the counter, grasped his hand in hers, and squeezed tenderly. She immediately saw the unshed tears in his eyes and felt her own eyes swell with tears. Suddenly, discomfort crept into Anakin's eyes and Padme promptly released his hand. He wordlessly went back to preparing her meal and within minutes, it was sitting in front of her.

She tentatively took a small bite, suddenly not having much of an appetite. But as the food touched her tongue, her eyes widened at the delicious taste. She devoured it quickly as her hunger came back almost immediately as she had barely eaten the past few days.

Anakin watched the scene with an amused smile on his face and his eyebrows rose slightly as she proceeded to scrape the plate for every last morsel. When she was finished, she looked up at met his laughing eyes and she smiled shyly as he reached over to take her plate.

After the dishes were washed and everything was put away, Anakin resumed his place across from her, unsure of what to do next. He watched her carefully as she shifted in place, obviously uncomfortable with the silence. He looked down for only a moment and his eyes quickly found hers again when he heard her sigh.

"Ani…I'm sorry, do you still want to be called that? I just realized that you're not really that little boy anymore, are you?"

He shook his head and attempted a grin. "No…no, I'm not. No one's called me that for a few years now."

She nodded; recognizing that he meant no one has called him by his nickname since his mother passed away. She bit her lip before replying: "So I should call you Anakin from now on, huh?"

He shrugged and she took that as a yes. She sighed again, realizing that now was as good a time as any. "Anakin…I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here…"

She looked back up at him and seeing that she had his full attention, gained a little more courage to tell her story. His eyes told her that he would accept anything she had to say and that was motivation enough.

She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly before uttering: "I was supposed to get married today."

Anakin's reaction was unreadable. His eyes closed for only a moment and when he reopened them, they were a mix of indecipherable emotions. His hands clenched tightly against the counter and she winced when she saw his knuckles turn white.

Unable to meet his eyes any longer, she looked away. Despite the immense pain in her chest, she knew she had to continue her story for there was no going back now.

"Naboo's army has slowly been depleting itself over the past years and the Queen and I made it no secret to the Senate that we needed assistance. We waited and pleaded with the Senate but it was much too long before anyone offered to help."

She paused here and glanced hesitantly at Anakin, whose forehead was contorted in confusion. She nodded in acknowledgment of his understandable bewilderment.

"You wouldn't have heard about any of this on the holonet. It was all a well-kept secret in the Senate, in fact, only a select few actually knew about the marriage proposal."

She paused again and rubbed her now aching temples as Anakin watched her carefully. She had never actually said everything out loud and doing it now had a worse affect on her than she thought it would.

"The proposal," she continued, "came from Anturus. They're a neighboring planet of ours and of course, saw an ideal opportunity in our situation. They knew how desperate we were for help considering Naboo was growing weaker by the day. It still is. They offered an army and in return, they demanded an alliance through marriage. I was the only option, as the Queen had just married due to a similar circumstance, and I was introduced to the man I was to marry within several hours. He was the most prominent member of Anturusian society, not a Senator, but that didn't really matter because he had the best puppeteer skills on the entire planet. It didn't hurt that he was rich either."

She sighed again as she was nearing the part of the story that really stirred her emotions. She took another quick glance at Anakin and saw that his entire focus was centered on her and what she was telling him. But now, his unreadable countenance was bordering on sympathetic and underneath that, she could see anger, though not directed at her, simmering below the surface.

"That man…Anakin…that man was the most…I don't even know how to put it in words. He was thirty years older than me and the way he looked at me…like I was already his possession, like I was just there to please him…it just made me feel…dirty and disgusted with everyone involved especially myself. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how wrong everything about it was. The fact that I could just be sold off that way…I couldn't believe it. I had given everything I could possibly give to my people, to the Senate, up until then…every aspect of my life I had given to them except the one thing I had thought I would never be asked to give. I believe that marriage is sacred, between two people that love each other. I would have given anything they asked of me…except that. I was willing to give my life for them but my soul…my soul…that was the one thing I couldn't give. I had to get out…I had no other choice."

Anakin was nodding now, understanding fully why she was standing before him and spoke for the first time during Padme's story. "You did the right thing, Padme."

She bit her lip, grateful for his approval and acceptance, and courageously pushed back the tears that were threatening to form to somehow choke out a thank you. Once she managed to regain hold of her emotions, she continued as now she was at the part that was much easier to tell. "The only people that knew my plan were my handmaiden, Sabe, and my personal physician. After all the assassination attempts I had had on my life, it wasn't hard to fake one more. In fact, we made it look like all the other ones before it, which was very easy. No one was allowed to see my 'body' after Sabe reported it. My physician told them everything they needed to know. Sabe had the unfortunate task of being in the coffin during the funeral procession. After the funeral, my physician broke into the tomb and got Sabe out, which, of course, is why everyone believes that my 'body' was stolen. During the funeral, I boarded a public transport, heavily disguised, and arrived here on Tatooine."

Anakin exhaled loudly at the end of her story and shook his head. "I don't know what to say, Padme. Everything that you've just said is just so…"

"Depressing?" She offered with a faint smile.

He nodded and bit his lip in thought. "What about your family?"

She shifted in her chair, looked down at her hands and responded quietly: "They think I'm dead. Sabe advised them to keep the news of my supposed death secret until the day of the funeral."

Anakin sighed and this time, he reached over and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Her other hand flew to her face and her eyes shut tightly, forcing a few tears to fall.

"Why don't you go lie down for awhile? I know you just woke up but it might help."

She couldn't form a verbal response so she just nodded her head, prompting him to walk around the counter and gently grip her shoulders to help her stand. He led her back into his room and helped her sit down on his bed. Before he could stop himself, his hand brushed a stray tear from her cheek and his heart skipped a beat when she smiled back at him. He quickly turned to leave and was almost out the door when a lingering question halted his exit. He turned back and found her resting against his pillow, her eyes watching him intently.

"Why did you come here…why did you come to Tatooine?"

She never hesitated. "Because I knew I would be safe with you."