SANCTUARY

Chapter Seven

It had been an entire week since Anakin and Padme's trip to Mos Espa. Once the rest of the family had learned exactly what had happened, they finally understood what had been so incomprehensibly funny when Anakin and Padme burst through the door. The running joke throughout the household, which now seemed a little old, was to call Padme 'The Enforcer' and Owen never failed to inform any visitor of this now well-known fact.

The day began like any other, with Padme waking the boys as usual, and the family sitting around the table, the aroma of coffee and eggs filling the air. Cliegg and Anakin talked excitedly about the latest improvement Anakin had made to his pod while Padme could only shake her head since she had no idea what they were talking about. Owen, however, was unusually calm, almost serenely calm. Padme cocked a questioning eyebrow his way and he just silently shook his head. She was about to address him but abruptly halted as Anakin's voice began to rise.

"I'm telling you, Cliegg, it's going to be ready for the race. It has to be."

Cliegg sighed with exasperation and set his fork down. "Anakin, I know how badly you want to race. But the Open is only in three days and it still isn't up to standards. If it's not safe for racing…"

"I'm not pulling out," Anakin interrupted. "I'm not a quitter. You know that better than anyone."

Suddenly, the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. Padme and Owen shifted nervously in their chairs as the face-off between Anakin and Cliegg continued.

"Anakin, I will not see you hurt yourself again. You could've died, Anakin. If you had a pod that was safe, I wouldn't hesitate to let you race. But I just can't allow you to do it if your pod isn't ready."

Anakin's fists clenched tightly underneath the table and he fought the urge to slam into the bottom of the table. He stood up shakily and threw his napkin on his chair with an annoyed force.

"You know what? I don't what to fight with you anymore about this. I have better things to do like work on my pod."

With that, Anakin stormed out of the room and stalked outside, the door slamming angrily behind him. Cliegg sighed heavily, pushed his chair back, and cleared his and Anakin's places at the table.

Padme stared at Owen for a second, contemplating what she should do. Owen motioned in the direction Anakin had headed with his head and that was all the persuasion Padme needed. She quickly excused herself and ran out the door in search of Anakin.

Owen watched her go and bit his lip. Maybe sending her out to talk to Anakin hadn't been such a good idea. He was going to need all the help he could get.

"Anakin! Anakin…wait!"

He paused for a moment, not sure if he wanted to talk to anyone, even if it was her. But before he could stop himself, he turned to face her. She had almost caught up to him and stopped a few feet in front of him, panting breathlessly. His arms crossed angrily across his chest and he exhaled loudly.

She sighed knowing instinctively that his anger wasn't directly at her but at some unseen force that was determined to keep him from racing. In her opinion, she would have preferred that he never raced at all, but knew that wouldn't help anything. She would just have to support him in whatever happened, whether she was pleased with it or not.

He watched her expectantly, growing extremely impatient as she continued to stare up at him, lost in thought. "Well?"

Padme shook her head as if to shake out the thoughts that had just crossed into her mind. She looked back up at him and smiled nervously. "Are you alright?"

He laughed sarcastically and grinned. "What do you think?"

She bit her lip and absentmindedly brought her hands to her hair. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I didn't mean to patronize you."

He sighed and his arms dropped to his sides. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

She smiled and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Now, do you think you can get your pod ready in time?"

"I don't know. I'll have to work on it for three days straight. But it's been starting consistently for almost a week now."

She laughed softly and squeezed his shoulder. "So there's hope then. Is there anything I can do to help?"

He sighed and regrettably shook his head. "I wish there was. But I have a feeling you've never had any experience as a mechanic."

She smiled good-naturedly and laughed again. "You're right. Well…get to work then. Even if you can't fix it now, there'll be other races, Anakin."

"I know but the Classic is the biggest race of the year. I would've won last year too if that stupid, arrogant little monster hadn't cut into my engine."

Padme laughed nervously, unsure if she should be relieved or very worried now. She didn't know how she was supposed to respond to that and was slightly relieved when Owen came up to them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have a favor to ask you, Padme."

Anakin nodded and waved goodbye before taking off to the shop. He definitely had work to do.

Padme watched him leave, a little disappointed that she wouldn't see him much for the next couple of days. She turned back to Owen, who had been observing her carefully.

"I saw that look."

Her mouth opened in surprise and it took her a few moments to respond. "I don't know what you're talking about, Owen."

He smiled knowingly and just shook his head. "Anyways, I'm going to need your help. We have to hurry…we're going to run out of time pretty soon."

Padme's brows furrowed in confusion as she looked up at him. She smiled a moment later, suddenly realizing what his plans were.

"Owen, I would be honored to help you." She said happily.

He smiled back at her gratefully. "Good, let's go then."

"Owen, why is it so dark in here? Did the power go out or something?"

"No, no…just keep walking."

He led her over to the table, carefully pulled a chair out for her, and helped her sit down. She looked up at him in surprise and he wanted to slap himself. He was going to give himself away by doing things like that. He was never romantic and now he was starting to regret it.

He quickly walked to the other side of the table and shakily lit the candles Padme had set out. Beru was watching him carefully, looking at him like he was starting to go insane and that made his hands shake even more. He ran a hand nervously through his hair and sat down across from her.

"What is all this about, Owen? Where is everyone else?"

He cleared his throat and nervously played with his napkin. "Padme…uh…she wanted to go to some place in Mos Espa so Anakin and Dad went with her. I didn't think you'd want to go so I thought we could just eat here."

She nodded, suspicion slowly creeping into her eyes. "Where did they go, Owen?"

He opened his mouth to reply but clamped it shut immediately. What had Padme told him to say? Why was he messing this up for Beru? "I…I…honestly, don't remember where they were going. You'll have to ask them when they get back."

Beru bit her lip to hide her smile and quickly put her napkin in her lap. They stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments before Owen hastily stood up. He took their plates over to the counter and scooped some steamed vegetables and broiled meat onto it.

Beru's eyes widened in shock as he set the food in front her. Since when did Owen cook for her? Had he gone insane? She tentatively took a bite and her eyes got even larger at the taste. It was actually good, delicious even. Owen watched her eat with growing fervor and almost told her to slow down. The faster she ate, the less time he had to prepare himself.

Before Owen knew it, Beru had scraped her plate and was looking at him expectantly. He blinked several times and took a deep breath. He fumbled around his pockets and his eyes widened when he couldn't find it. Panic started to rise up in his throat and he frantically searched through his pockets.

"Owen?"

He froze and hesitantly looked up at Beru. His mouth dropped open when he realized what she was holding.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

His lips trembled and he nodded slowly.

"Is it alright if I put it on?"

He swallowed nervously, silently berating himself for screwing up. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He slowly nodded and watched helplessly as she slipped the ring on her finger.

"Beru…I…"

She smiled softly and held her hand up to further inspect the ring. "It fell out of your pocket when you got up to get the food. I picked it up when you weren't looking."

He stammered incomprehensibly and fought the urge to beat his head into the table. "I'm sorry Beru. I wanted everything to be perfect. I even got Padme to help me to make sure everything would be how you would want it to be. And I messed it all up! I'm such an idiot!"

Beru just smiled and carefully stood up. She walked over to where Owen sat, with his head in his hands, and kneeled down to him. She reached out and gripped his arm tightly, forcing him to face her.

"Owen, it's alright. I love you. You love me. That's all that matters. So what if your proposal didn't go the way you wanted it to?"

Owen shook his head and rubbed his temple wearily. "That's the thing, Beru. I didn't even propose to you yet."

She laughed good-naturedly and embraced him warmly. "So ask me."

His lips slowly curved upward and he chuckled. "What my lady wants, my lady gets."

He moved out of his chair and brought himself to his knees, facing her. He took her left hand and kissed it tenderly. His fingers gently played with the ring on her finger, observing that it looked just as he had imagined it would on her hand. It was perfect. And Beru was right. They loved each other. As long as he got to the point, that was all that mattered at that moment.

"Beru, will you marry me?" He whispered into her ear.

Her smile seemed to reach her ears and she nodded happily, hugging him tightly to her.

"Yes, yes, of course."

Anakin opened the front door slowly, stuck his head in, and motioned for the others to follow. It was dark, the candles had melted down to the quick and Owen and Beru were no where in sight.

"They must have left to tell her parents." Anakin said as he walked inside in the kitchen.

Padme and Cliegg followed him and carefully inspected the table.

"Hmmm, it looks like the food went over well. I just hope everything else did too." Padme offered, trying to hide her smile. She had barely been able to contain herself during dinner and being back in the house only increased her anxiousness to find out how everything had gone for her friends.

Anakin smiled and his eyebrows raised slightly as his gaze found a turned over plate on the floor. "That's strange."

"What is?" Padme asked as she walked over to where Anakin stood. Her eyes widened when she found what Anakin had referred to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cliegg sit down on the sofa, turn on the holonet, and she sighed with relief.

Both jumped slightly at the sudden bump against wall closest to them. Their eyes met, confusion etched in their faces. Anakin took a step closer to the wall so his ear could rest against it. His eyes widened when he heard another bump and immediately withdrew his ear.

"What was that?" Padme whispered. She walked up next to him to listen more closely but quickly stepped back when her hand brushed against his. She looked up at him hesitantly but his attention was still focused on the noises coming from Owen's room. She exhaled with relief. He hadn't noticed.

Anakin's curiosity was getting the best of him and he decided to investigate further. He walked around the corner with Padme close on his heels. They cautiously walked up to the door and Anakin's hand rested on the doorknob for a few moments.

Just as he started to open it, Padme warned: "Anakin, I don't think this is such a good…"

But the warning came too late as Anakin opened the door, revealing the shocked and embarrassed faces of Owen and Beru. Beru quickly pulled the blankets over her as Owen and Anakin continued to stare at each other in complete shock.

"Anakin…Anakin…GET OUT OF HERE!" Owen shouted angrily.

Anakin's shock quickly wore off at that and his lips curved into an amused smile as he saw Cliegg jump up. Cliegg was at their sides within moments and his face reddened at what he saw.

"What…what's going on here…never mind. Just put your clothes back on and take Beru home. We'll talk about this later." Cliegg said as he fought the urge to cover his eyes. He quickly shut the door and stalked back to the couch before throwing himself on it.

A few moments later, Owen and Beru emerged from his room, looking very guilty. Anakin couldn't contain himself any longer at the scene and started laughing uncontrollably, until Padme elbowed him hard in the side.

"Ow!" He exclaimed.

"You deserved it!" Owen shouted as he escorted Beru out of the house.

Anakin held it in only until he heard the door shut then he doubled over, holding his sides from the wild laughter that escaped. He glanced at Cliegg who had been watching the entire scene with an incredibly stern expression on his face.

As their eyes met, Cliegg burst out laughing, barely able to stop laughing long enough to say: "That must have been one hell of a proposal!"