Author: jlcleamus
Time Frame: 12 years after TPM
Characters: A/P, Obi-Wan
Summary: 7 years after the events of The Rogue in Hiding, Anakin is called away from hiding to help a deteriorating Republic in the Clone Wars.
This story is a sequel to a previously completed story The Rogue in Hiding (link is in profile). I would impassionately recommend that you read that story first before reading this. However, if that is not your preference, please send me an email (link is in the profile as well) and I will send you a sypnosis of the first story.
The Rogue in War
Seven Years after the events of "The Rogue in Hiding"
Characters and their ages:
Anakin-21
Padme-26
Obi-Wan-37
Count Dooku-Really Old
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine-Even older
Yoda-Ancient
Qui-Gon Jinn-Still Dead
Mace Windu-Still Bald
Nute Gunray-Still Lacking a nose
R2D2-Still permanently deactivated
C3PO-Probably in a scrapheap somewhere
General Grevious: Recently developed a bad case of Droidikitis (Inflammation of Artificial Lungs)
Jar Jar Binks-Does anyone really even care?
Prologue
Padme slept peacefully in her husband's arms, her back cradled against his bare chest. As the soft rays of the sun began to creep into their small home and nudged the former Queen awake, Padme willed her eyes shut, as she did every morning, in order to savor every moment she had with her sleeping husband.
To her dismay the moment was all-too-short. Anakin began to move about restlessly in his sleep. Padme hoped that he was dreaming, preferably about her, but as the breath on her neck became more meticulous and labored, she knew that her husband was awake as well.
Perhaps if she pretended to still be asleep Anakin, fearful of waking his wife, would stay in bed awhile longer. Padme began to draw in deep, full breaths. Everyone few seconds she would try her best to fake a snore and them mumble some random gibberish, then gnaw on her pillow as if they were the lips of her husband.
It was to no avail. Padme felt the arms of her husband slipping away from her. Still, she continued her charade even as he rose from the bed. To her quiet delight, she felt his lips planting a soft kiss on her cheek.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear.
Padme grunted in response.
"And I know you are awake." And with that, Anakin crept motionlessly out of bed.
Their house stood humbly on the side of a mountain, and steps away from it was a quiet, soft meadow. Anakin sauntered slowly through the gentle plains until he reached the edge of the plateau, ending in a slow reclining ridge that stretched all the way down into the valley and the river below. Many times he and his wife had frolicked in the meadow, allowing themselves to forget entirely their pasts and the events that had brought them to this mostly unknown, though pleasant, corner of the Galaxy.
Anakin's mouth curled into a smile as he remembered the times they had frolicked too far and found themselves sliding down the hill into the river below. The water was never unreasonably cold, but that did not stop Padme from whining good-naturedly about her ruined dress, though both of them knew that Anakin certainly didn't mind seeing his wife in such a soaked state.
But even out here there were still reminders of the past. Anakin walked beyond the meadow and down towards the ridge and the brush that grew on the decline. He crouched near the ground and faced the six small graves that lay hidden behind the low bushes. Five for Padme; one for him. They were unmarked, and really, what was the point, if all of the graves were empty?
He heard the door of their house creak open, and somberly left the memorial site. The sight that greeted him as he walked towards his wife still managed to steal the breath away from him. Padme wandered towards him, her gown billowing gently in the morning breeze, her eyes, still not recovered from her rest, squinting unprepared at the morning sun, her hair, unkempt and strewn madly across her face, and her feet, unknowingly wearing mismatched sandals as they carried her towards him. In a word, Anakin thought, perfect.
She walked straight into his embrace. He was much taller now, towering over her as he easily cupped the top of her head under his chin. She sighed contentedly and stroked his golden hair, now with her encouragement, grown to the point where it reached his neck. Anakin withdrew from the embrace and stared into her deep brown eyes as he caressed her bare and shivering arms with his hands, trying to warm them for her.
"I love the way you look in the morning," he said softly. "You look…like a magnificent sunrise."
Even now she would still blush at such comments. Anakin bent his head down and split her lips with his.
"But your breath," he said after the kiss, "could use some work."
Padme's eyes grew wide and she slapped him playfully on the chest.
"And my husband has never had a case of morning breath before?"
Anakin grinned as he responded. "Oh, I would never claim that, my darling. But I do make a visit to the fresher every morning before stepping out of the house."
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, bad breath and all.
"Why are you up so early," she asked.
"I am going into town."
"To visit Sven?"
"Yes." Anakin's eyes grew distant. "I need to meditate with him. Things are changing, Padme."
"What do you mean?"
"There has always been a darkness in this galaxy. I have felt it often, even as far out as here. It is elusive, evading detecting, but it's been growing lately. In power, in frequency…in every aspect."
Padme eyed her husband fearfully.
"What do you think it means, Ani?"
"I don't know." He pointed at the skies, from which they came from. "I think there something happening out there. Unrest, pain, suffering. I must meditate on it."
"Go then. When will you be back?"
"Before lunch, hopefully. We can practice some of your saber techniques afterwards."
Padme's shoulders slumped.
"But I don't want to, Anakin," she whined childishly, mocking her husband's antics whenever she had chores for him to do. "I'll never be good at it."
"It's for your own protection, Padme. You don't have to be an expert swordsman. I don't expect you do take on a Jedi or anything. As long as you can wield it and hurt others without hurting yourself, I will feel much more assured."
"Fine." She let go of her husband, who started off towards their ship, but then turned back to look at her reluctantly.
"There's more, Padme. Obi-Wan is coming."
"Obi-Wan," Padme gasped, this time her reactions sincere. "How do you know?"
"I can still sense him. He is approaching, getting closer every moment."
"How does he know we are here?
"Perhaps he can still sense me as well."
For the first time in seven years since arriving at the planet, Padme felt uncomfortable.
"Why is he coming?"
"I do not know, but I sense no ill intent from him. I must go, Padme. If he arrives before I get back, humor him. You know how to reach me."
"I love you, Ani. Hurry back soon."
"I love you too, Angel. I'll try."
After watching her husband speed off into the valley, Padme hurried back to their house to ready for their incoming guest and, just to have a contingency plan, unpack and ready her blaster.
