A/N: I know it's a little early for Christmas au's but I wrote this in the height of summer so it's about time I finally posted it. It's more a festive season au to be fair... enjoy!
Buuuzzzzz
Buuuzzzzz
Groaning into her pillow, Padme rolled over and tugged the blanket up and under her chin. Stupid birds outside… they were always singing and tweeting the moment the sun so much as hinted at coming out for the morning. On a weekday, it was an annoyance but on a Saturday? The first Saturday she'd let herself take off work in three weeks? Absolutely not. Nothing was going to ruin the lazy morning she'd been dreaming about for almost a month.
Buuuzzzz
Buuuzzzz
It took the young woman entirely too long to come to the realization that birds, in fact, did not vibrate. Which meant the sound had to be coming from her phone. Padme crumpled a fist into the warmth of her pillow and squeezed it tightly, just barely resisting the urge to throw the damn phone out of the window. If someone was calling her this early on a Saturday, it had to be some kind of work emergency and she really, really did not want to face that today.
Buuuzzzz
Buuuzzzz
"Okay, okay," she moaned, reaching blindly toward her nightstand to feel around for the damn thing. First, she knocked the book she'd been meaning to start for a month to the floor with a distressing thud. Next went the case she kept her reading glasses. Finally, Padme's fumbling hand landed on the small rectangle which had ruined her morning and lifted it.
Rolling onto her back, she rubbed at her bleary eyes and yawned, savoring her final few work-free moments before tapping the screen to light up the missed notifications. Surprisingly, instead of Bail or Mon's assistants, there were several messages and missed calls from her boyfriend.
Anakin 10:00: Morning, beautiful. I'm on my way over, do you want me to pick you up some coffee?
Anakin 10:00: Stupid question, I know… I'll get the usual, yeah?
Missed call 10:19: Anakin
Anakin 10:20: Hey sleeping beauty! I'm outside the building
Missed call 10:21: Anakin
Anakin 10:23: One of your neighbours let me in. I'm outside the door just in case you wanted to let me in?
Missed call 10: 25: Anakin
Anakin 10:26: Angel, I'm pretty sure the old lady across the hall thinks I'm some kinda predator now
Missed call 10:27: Anakin
A loud knocking at her door brought a guiltily amused smile stretching across Padme's lips, poor Ani, she thought just barely holding back a peel of laughter at his expense. Mrs Parker across the hall was infamously nosey and suspicious. It would be a miracle if she wasn't outside interrogating him about why he was here. Throwing back the heavy blankets and swinging her legs out of bed, she yawned again and made her way through her apartment to the front door. Twisting the lock and pulling it open, there stood Anakin leaning on the frame by his forearm and a take out carrier holding two coffees in his free hand.
"It's a very good thing you like your coffee iced, sweetheart," he smiled despite the wait. "I was about to go ahead and offer it to your neighbour before it became coffee flavoured water."
"Not that I mind the surprise but what are you doing here?" Padme laughed, taking his handsome face in her hands and leaning up on her tip-toes to press her lips to his. "I thought we were getting dinner tomorrow?"
He accepted her kiss gladly, wrapping an arm around her waist and nudging his nose against hers, making her smile grow somehow wider. "Well, I thought that since you taking the whole weekend off is unheard of, we could spend the day together… Unless you made plans already?" He winced suddenly, releasing her, "Which I really should have thought about before – and it's cool if you do! I can just leave the coffee and – "
Just barely stifling a laugh, Padme kissed him again, shushing his worried rambling before he could really start. Twisting the golden waves at the nape of his neck around her fingers, she shook her head when they pulled back. "I don't have any plans. You're so sweet to come here and surprise me, Ani!" Stepping out of his arms, she took the coffee carrier out of his hand and moved inside the apartment, hearing the door click shut behind him. She almost didn't know which was better, Anakin's arrival or the coffee… Bringing the icy beverage to her lips, Padme felt a strong compulsion toward the latter. "Mmm, I definitely needed this… Wait, who's Padma?" She laughed at the messy scrawl of a name scribbled onto the plastic cup. "Is she your other girlfriend?"
"Hey, it's the closest any of them have gotten so far," Anakin shrugged as he slipped off his grey coat and draped it over her armchair. "Besides, nothing can be worse than the drive-through got my name last time, remember?"
As he made himself comfortable on the sofa, Padme joined him, curling against her boyfriend's side as she handed him his own coffee. "Oh yeah…" Just the memory made the young woman snigger, "What was it they wrote again? 'Annie-kin'?"
"Don't," he groaned, "I don't think it's ever been spelled right."
Laying a gentle kiss on his shoulder, she peered up at him, thrilling in the absolute adoration which shone in his eyes as he looked down at her. "Thank you for this, Ani. I really appreciate it."
He pressed his lips to her forehead with a smile. "No worries, Angel. I'm just excited we get to spend a whole weekend together! You remember my friend, Obi-wan, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "Well, he invited me to this holiday get together thing. It's all about decorating gingerbread houses. Ahsoka will be there too – and a few other people. He said it's going to be special this year. I thought it might be fun to swing by?"
The excitement in his eyes was irresistible, how was a girl supposed to say no to that? Not that Padme particularly wanted to. "I'm in! Although I hope you know, I make the best gingerbread houses. No one else stands a chance." Years of practice with her family and her nieces had crafted an eye for candy decorations like no other… and a slightly less than healthy competitive streak always helped.
"Challenge accepted," Anakin grinned. "You're on Naberrie."
Draining the last of her coffee, Padme reluctantly stood up and stretched her arms above her head. The thin white tank-top she'd worn to bed rode up her stomach, a movement Anakin's eyes followed very carefully, she noticed. "What time is Obi-wan expecting us?"
"Not until around three this afternoon, why?" He quirked an eyebrow and sat back, watching her lazily.
"Well, I need to shower and pick out something to wear… and I feel like I should make it up to you for making you wait outside for so long." Although they'd spent the night together at his place two days ago, she suddenly couldn't wait to drag him back into her bedroom. Especially since there was plenty of time to spare this morning. "But only if you feel like it, of course?"
"Well, my feelings were hurt actually…" Anakin smirked up at her, "I'm not going to get over it easily."
Padme couldn't have smiled any wider if she tried. She had never been more in love with anyone in all twenty-seven years she'd been alive, no past partner had made her a quarter as happy as Anakin did. He was undoubtedly, unabashedly her soulmate, her person, the man she wanted to grow old with. No relationship she'd had before had ever been this easy and secure. No one had loved her half as much as he did.
Dropping to her knees before him, she did her best to look regretful even as desire and absolute joy shone in their eyes. "Let me show you just how sorry I am…"
"Ahsoka," the red-headed boy whined, "if you keep eating all the decorations the houses will be plain slabs of gingerbread! C'mon, at least leave something for the rest of us…"
Padme smiled down at her thickly iced walls as they began to fuse together into something resembling a house. Unfortunately, compared to Anakin's carefully crafted two-story model, her simple family home wasn't shining as brightly as she'd hoped. Of course, he would excel at building something tenuous, the young woman thought only somewhat bitterly, all that work on heavily altered engines was paying off.
"I haven't even touched them!" Her boyfriend's younger sister garbled around a mouthful of candy, "What're you even talking about, Korkie?" One end of Ahsoka's twin braids had dipped into her bowl of icing sugar and clumped together in a sticky point, staining the red beads the girl had laced throughout her hair. Across the table, Satine, Obi-wan's long-term girlfriend threw Padme an exasperated glance, shaking her head.
"I'm glad there's finally someone sane to join me at the table," her long blonde hair had been tied up delicately in a twisted knot atop her head and decorated with an elaborate opal hairpin. Granted, she hadn't known Obi-wan very long but he matched so well with someone as elegant as Satine. Padme could imagine the pair debating the benefits of ancient teas and arts for hours joyously.
Mostly because that's what Anakin had told her they did.
She believed him.
"I'm glad to be here," Padme smiled at the other woman, "it's been so nice getting to know Anakin's friends better." Sometimes she forgot that a whole year had passed since he'd come into her life. The memories felt like a whirlwind and an entire lifetime all at once. She'd never been so wholly comfortable with someone as quickly as she had with him. Unable to resist, she let her gaze creep over to the left where her boyfriend was debating basketball drafts with a young man named Lux if she remembered correctly, Ahsoka's friend. The context of the conversation escaped her understanding but she enjoyed this stolen moment watching him get so passionate about something silly.
"Yes," Satine's voice drew the young woman's attention back to the conversation. She felt a faint blush creep upwards into her cheeks at being caught staring. "He really is head over heels with you, Obi and I were just talking about it the other day."
Her blush deepened even as an unwilling smile tore at her lips. "I love him too," Padme glanced at Anakin again, watching as he shook his head and scoffed at whatever Lux was saying now. Unfortunately, whatever the blonde woman was going to say next was cut off by Ahsoka opening her mouth and flashing Korkie the chewed-up remains of candy coating her tongue, triggering the younger boy into shouts of disgust as she sniggered at his expense.
She saw so much of Anakin in his sister…
Satine moved to calm the pair as Obi-wan returned from the wine cellar bearing multiple bottles of a deep red Padme had never heard of. Not for the first time, she thought that the auburn-haired man and her father would get along wonderfully, Ruwee was very fond and infamously protective of his own wine collection. If he ever found out about all the times she and Sola had snuck down there as teenagers with their friends drinking several bottles dry… she shuddered to think about it.
After an hour of intense decorating, holiday music and a little too much wine, the group abandoned their crafts to settle in Obi-wan and Satine's large entertainment room for the remainder of the evening. Padme enjoyed the 'earthy' toned wine with Anakin's arm slung casually over her shoulder, his fingers toying gently with one of her curls as the group descended into the madness of charades.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Obi-wan stood straight from the exquisite dark quilted leather sofas with a shy, nervous smile, as if his heart was pounding beneath the rich blue dress shirt he wore for the day. "I know Satine and I invited you all over here today for the holiday festivities," he gave a short chuckle, "but I must admit the invitation was a deception on my part."
"Obi, what on earth are you talking about?" Satine laughed musically and Padme felt Anakin sit up straighter beside her. As subtly as she could, she gave him a sidelong glance. He looked excited. The smile which stretched across his mouth was palpable, he was practically vibrating against her body. Whatever this was, Obi-wan had obviously clued him in before they arrived.
"What's going on?" She whispered under her breath, hiding her words behind the glass rim containing her wine. "Are you two up to something?"
"Shh, Angel," he shot her an exuberant smile which lit up every inch of his handsome face and, really, with the tight, deep green t-shirt he'd pulled over his hard body, his long, golden tresses kissing the nape of his neck, naturally tanned skin and endlessly deep, blue eyes, he was gloriously attractive. Padme's stomach did a little flip as she playfully narrowed her eyes at him. Anakin really was the most beautiful person she knew. "You'll see, I promise."
"I did wonder how to do this," Obi-wan stroked his beard, a nervous little movement, "I – I thought about a trip, perhaps, or a dinner somewhere frighteningly expensive, suggestions for which I'm sure you have plenty," he smiled at Satine whose confused glance had melted into a soft gaze of absolute love. Tears began to swim in her eyes and she reached a trembling hand into her red-headed nephew's grasp. "Satine Kryze, from the moment you approached me in the gallery – something I would never have been brave enough to do, really – I knew you were special. Your poise, your intelligence, your beauty, and your unwavering dedication to the family we're building are unlike anything or anyone I've ever known. Only you can chide me. Only you could ever love every part of me. And… well, I like to think I fill that part of your heart also. I look forward to a very long and happy life by your side, my Duchess," slowly, Obi-wan sank to one knee before his lover, fishing a red, velvet box with a golden logo sprawling beautifully across the lid, "will you do me the greatest honor and marry me?"
"Obi!" The blonde almost wept, "Oh, Obi of course I will!" She released Korkie's hand and threw herself onto the plush carpet, taking her new fiancé's face in her hands and kissing him so fiercely, even Padme felt herself begin to blush. Ahsoka launched herself to her feet with a delighted whoop, making Korkie wince and hiss to 'get down before they see!'
"Well, it's about time!" Anakin released Padme to clap his hands together as the newly engaged couple began to part. She spotted Satine's lips move in a whisper lost to all except the man she loved. It was all so wonderfully romantic… Surrounded by friends and family, a room full of love and support and genuine joy for one another, she couldn't imagine something more magnificent for an intimate proposal. What more could any girl ever ask for?
Korkie finally succeeded in making Ahsoka sit back down as Padme watched Anakin stand to embrace his friend as he and Satine pulled each other to their feet.
Her stomach did another little flip.
Giggling and stumbling into the building in each other's arms, Padme and Anakin probably looked completely ridiculous to anyone lingering in her building's foyer but neither could possibly bring themselves to care. Hours of gentle celebrating, and just a little too much champagne, had lifted their spirits beyond anything a questioning look could deflate. Outside, snow was beginning to trickle in large flakes from the dark blanket the sky cast across the city, making the night appear like a freshly shaken snow globe.
It was all so beautifully perfect.
"What a night," she smiled as Anakin gathered her slight frame in his warm arms, tugging her close despite the flakes of snow decorating his dark coat. "Obi-wan and Satine looked so happy…" Besides her parents, Padme had never met a couple more perfectly content with one another. The comfort they exuded together was so easy, as if they were one soul separated into two bodies. "They're so in love, aren't they?"
"Mhm," Anakin dusted a kiss on the tip of her nose softly, "I think Satine's the only woman he's ever loved, actually. Really loved, I mean." His next kiss fell upon Padme's forehead and her dizzy smile grew wider. "Like the way I love you."
"I love you too," she trailed her hands upwards on his chest and then around his neck, leaning up on her tip-toes to steal his all too tempting lips for a kiss. Lost in the romance of their day, Padme wished she had a skill for emotional words of devotion the way Anakin did. He could craft a speech of love – often tender, bumbling and awkwardly amazing – that made her feel like she could float in the air all day. There was never a moment with him where she doubted his heart was hers or how deeply his affection ran. Despite her profession leaning on a gift for speech-giving to win cases in court, her skills in romantic prose were somewhat lacking. "I know I don't tell you that enough, Ani, but I do… You're my soulmate.
The surprised spark of joy her words brought to his eyes made Padme's heart want to leap and whoop. It wasn't often she felt brave enough to tell him just how much she loved him, usually, her feelings revealed themselves in gesture and touch but she knew how much Anakin thrived on verbal declarations. She made a note to put such things into words more often. "You're my whole heart," his grin was cut short when she pressed a finger to his lips.
"No great proclamations tonight," the sheer happiness she felt was nearly overwhelming. How did Padme live before he came into her life? She could hardly remember what those grey days were like. "I don't want you beating me."
"Me? Beat you in talking?" Anakin scoffed as she pulled her fingers away, "Impossible. You know far more words than I do for starters." She felt his hand squeeze her hip lightly, further perpetuating the light in his joke.
"Never forget it," she grinned and began to pull away before someone did come down here and find them staring madly into each other's eyes. The last thing she needed from her neighbors were those kinds of knowing looks. "You know it's funny, two girls in my office got engaged last weekend. There must be something in the air."
"Must be the power of the holiday spirit," Anakin's hand brushed affectionately against Padme's lower back as they moved toward the elevator together. The glowing yellow digits warned that it was all the way on the twenty-third floor and was apparently in no hurry to make its way down to the lobby for them. "I wonder who's next…"
"Us?" Padme lifted an eyebrow, waiting for him to choke on his breath and wheeze out words in the way she knew meant she'd got him. Seeing Anakin all flustered and blushing made her laugh harder than almost anything. He was so sweet when he got pouty for hours about it afterwards.
She waited for his surprise, for the stammering and the frantic blinking but it never came. Instead, as the elevator somehow seemed to drop ten floors in one brisk fall, Anakin calmly stroked his hand up and down her back softly. "Oh yeah, that's coming."
Padme stared at him through narrowed eyes as he kept up his nonchalant mask as if she hadn't said anything remotely surprising. What was he…? Oh, right. Yes, she knew exactly what he was doing. Turning her joke back around on her. How very funny… "Okay," she rolled her eyes with a light laugh, "Sure it is. Ha. Ha."
Anakin couldn't keep secrets from her if his very life depended on it. Padme could always see right through him the moment he even thought about hiding something from her and it never took long to make him spill. Besides, they hadn't even talked about marriage yet! He thought he was so slick! She knew he just wanted to watch her squirm.
"I mean it, Naberrie," he chuckled, "brace yourself because it's going to be amazing."
"Mmhm, sure," she nodded sarcastically "I believe you."
The elevator dinged as it finally arrived in the lobby and the doors peeled open to reveal the silvery-grey metal room inside. The couple stepped in as Anakin managed to look incredulous – he really could be a wonderful actor when he wanted to be. "I'm serious!" A peel of surprised laughter fell out of his mouth, "It's happening."
"Okaaay…" Padme pressed the number for her floor and let the doors slide shut again. "You're never going to get me with this, Anakin, just quit while you're ahead." She laughed at the outright shock that painted his handsome face, as if he really thought she was going to fall for her own joke turned against her. Please!
"Wait a second," he shifted closer to her, his voice dropping to a quiet murmur, "this is something you would want, right? I mean, marriage. With me. You… you see that in our future?"
The air in the elevator shifted into seriousness so quickly that Padme's surprised mind needed a few moments to catch up. In the playfulness of his joke, had Anakin really been trying to guess her feelings on the future of their relationship? They'd only been together for a year, which logically wasn't very long to get to know somebody very well but – and maybe she was being naive – they did know each other. He knew every single thing about her just like she did for him. She knew that some people needed longer to set their paths together, but if two people loved each other as much as Padme and Anakin did, why shouldn't they plan a future?
"Of course I do," her voice came out in a breathless whisper. The insecurity in his voice pained her – had she made him question how much he owned her heart? Had Padme done something to make him doubt her commitment to him? "Anakin, I love you… you're the only man I'd ever consider marrying."
She watched the brightness which lit up his whole face, like a child seeing their presents under the tree on Christmas morning, and felt herself smile, reaching out to thread her fingers through his softly. "I only ask because," Anakin heaved a small sigh and wrapped his free arm around her body, "well, we've never actually talked about this before, y'know? And I know what I want, I just wasn't sure we were on the same page about things."
The elevator dinged as they reached Padme's floor and the couple stepped out into the bright hallway. She felt her eyebrows knit together as the meaning of Anakin's words came over her. "Well, I…" Why hadn't they taken the time to discuss a future they wanted to share? Wasn't that what couples were supposed to do when they were sure they wanted to share their lives? "I just, I didn't think we had to…" She shook her head, "I suppose I just assumed…" That what, exactly? That he could read her mind? That some romantic instinct inside him would just know that Padme wanted to spend her life within him without having that conversation…
Well, it was silly when she put it like that.
Anakin blinked, lips slightly parted as he looked into Padme's warm, amber-flecked eyes while she voiced her thoughts. "You're sure then? You want to marry me?" He breathed the words as if they were somehow sacred and irrevocably special to him.
Leaning on her tip-toes, Padme's lips whispered a kiss to his own while her fingers threaded through the spun-gold of his soft hair. How many times would she have to say it? Ten times? A hundred times? Whatever it took to make this dense man of hers understand how much she loved him, she would say it. Hell, after the champagne she'd had this evening, maybe she might go to the roof and yell it for the whole city to hear! "I love you, Anakin Skywalker." They kissed again, slow and deep, savouring this sweet moment for as long as they could before they were forced to pull apart. His fingers wove around her hips and lower back, pressing a firm and steady pressure into her skin. Somehow, after all this time, her skin still tingled beneath his touch. "I would love to be your wife."
"Padme…" Anakin pulled back just slightly, the ocean blue of his eyes blazed with absolute love and excitement and something she couldn't quite name as he took a step back and began to lower himself. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she watched him, her boyfriend, her lover, the man she moved more than anything in the world, fall to one knee before her and thread their fingers together. Unbidden, tears began to well within her eyes blurring her vision faster than she could blink them away to properly see him right now. "Would you do me the honor…" he swallowed, his throat bobbing with the motion, "of spending the holidays with my family and me?"
"Ye – wait, what?" Padme blinked through the mental whiplash as her brain reeled in its attempt to catch up to what just happened… the honor of – of going home with him for the holidays? But that wasn't… She was so sure he… and then, that cheeky, cocky grin began to spread across his face as uncontrollable laughter tumbled out of his lips. Anakin laughed so hard his shoulders began to shake and she glared down at him, yanking her hand out of his. "You're an asshole!"
"What?" He struggled to straighten his face for a moment, "oh… wait, did you really think I was…?"
Rolling her eyes, Padme began the short walk to her apartment door as Anakin's roaring laughter bounced off the walls, taunting her with every step. Really, this was on her… she should have seen that coming. He'd just been teasing her about a proposal before they got talking for real. Damn it. She was never going to hear the end of this one…
"Oh, Angel, don't be like that," he followed after her, "I'm sure lots of people would have made the same mistake, don't beat yourself up about it." Glaring at him over her shoulder, Padme unlocked her door and brushed her boyfriend off as he attempted to kiss her cheek from behind which seemed to only make him laugh all the harder.
"I hate you," nothing in the world could have stopped the peel of laughter that tumbled out of Padme's lips then, despite her annoyance, she couldn't help the flicker of amusement that lit up inside her. "I mean it!"
Anakin arms snaked around her body, pulling her slight weight against his body despite her half-hearted protests and in the mix of squealing and laughter, Padme knew with every fiber of her being, if this was their life together, loving and joking and planning a future to share then she couldn't wait for to get started.