I don't own Star Wars.
previously, on 'Something's Happened' (ok, author's joke).
"I'm sorry about how I acted today. I feel like a fool. It's just… I felt… jealous."
"Jealous? But Ariana… I – "
"I know. You don't love me. Well at least, not in the way you love her. But I – I think I still love you. I'm sorry," she said, and tears began to fall from her eyes. "I thought I was over you. I really did."
"Sh…" He wrapped his arms around her. "We'll figure this out."
She laughed half-heartedly. "How do you know?"
"I'm a Jedi, remember? I'm all knowing!"
She hit him. "Funny. Anakin?"
"Yea?"
"Thanks. You always know what to say. I think that's why I fell in love with you."
He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.
That night, he slept soundly. He felt comfortable, with his arms around Ariana. He was so
confused. All he knew, was he had to figure it out.
Chapter 4Padme couldn't sleep that night. It's not that she wasn't used to sleeping without Anakin; on the contrary, Anakin was gone most of the time on missions. There were just too many thoughts going on in her head. Did Anakin really love her? Had he been having an affair this whole time? When was he planning on telling her about the child? She just couldn't understand it. If she was in Anakin's position, would she have told him? She thought about it, at first whole-heartedly believing that she would be completely forthcoming with him, before realizing that she would do the same thing he did. At that's when she knew that he loved her, and she loved him, no matter what.
If only things could really be that simple. Padme started looking for Anakin. Would he go and stay with Obi-Wan? No, she thought to herself, Anakin is probably just as scared of Obi-Wan as he is of her right now. A hotel then? Probably not. And then she felt a thump in her chest, and she knew that he was with her.
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Anakin stretched his arms, and came in contact with skin. He looked over and remembered that he had spent the night with Ariana. No, they didn't have sex, but he felt like he had betrayed Padme just the same. But he couldn't force himself to disturb Ariana. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, and he knew why he had slept with her that night. In some small way, he had never gotten over her. And now he was forced to confront that.
He knew he loved Padme. But he knew he loved Ariana, and his daughter. If he stayed with Padme, if he completely left Ariana, would he still be able to see Sira? Could Padme let him back only on the provision that he leave Ariana and Sira alone, never to bother them again? He couldn't imagine a life without his daughter, or even Ariana, though he did not want to even think about life without his wife.
If he had only known what was about to happen, he might have reconsidered disturbing the peaceful Ariana.
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The sound of someone knocking at the door filled the room. Obi-Wan opened the door, surprised to see Padme looking at him wearily. He looked at her. She looked at him. Neither said anything for a few seconds.
"You know, you did come here."
"Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I'm just not sure how to word this. I feel that I need to explain – explain what you saw."
"I know what I saw. Anakin – Anakin has a daughter. He will have to leave the Order; there's no way they will let him remain."
"Obi-wan, there's something else. Something you don't know. Anakin and I – we're…we're – "
"Yes?"
"We're married." Padme breathed a sigh of relief. Then, more silence. No one spoke.
Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair. "..Married," he muttered quietly. Looking at her, he spoke more clearly, "We're you ever going to tell me?"
"I...I don't know. It wasn't that we didn't trust you. Anakin loves you like a brother!"
"Then… why? And
how could you do this? How could you be so irresponsible! The baby…
the baby is his then?"
"Of course it is. And I honestly don't
know. I tried to resist. He had so much… passion. He made me
believe that we could live a lie. I should have listened to my mind,
and not my heart. I'm so sorry. We've betrayed you. I'm just so
sorry. I'm sorry that this ever happened."
"No, I understand why you did it. And I understand why you didn't tell me. Did you know about –"
"About Sira? No. About Ariana? No. Anakin kept secrets from both of us," she replied bitterly.
"Do you know where he is?"
"No, that's part of the reason I came here. I had hoped that you would know where he was."
"Well, now that I know that he's not with you, I have an idea."
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A pounding sound filled the room. "Gerway," Anakin muttered sleepily. More knocking. Anakin wearily got up. Failing to notice that he was shirtless, and in boxers, he opened the door.
Silence.
Not an awkward silence, but worse – a hateful, malevolent silence that seemed worse than any yelling that could come. Of course, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be yelling later on.
Obi-wan cleared his throat. Anakin jumped. "Obi-wan… what are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same question, but I'll leave that to your wife."
"So… she told you."
"She told me many things, Anakin."
More silence.
"Padme –," he started.
"Don't. Don't try to tell me that this isn't what it looks like. Don't try to tell me that you don't still love her," she yelled.
"I… I wouldn't have done that. I don't think I could have."
Padme looked shocked. Obviously, that wasn't what she had expected him to say.
"What," she said softly. "Do you love me?"
"Of course I do. I love you more than life."
"More than her? More than your daughter?"
"How can you ask that of me? I will always love Ariana. Am I in love with her? Honestly, now I'm not so certain. But if you ask me to choose between you and Sira, I will choose Sira. Understand that."
Padme started wailing.
"Padme, I'm sorry, I didn't mean – "
"Yes, you did. You did mean it. Where does this leave us?"
"I… I don't know. But I know that I love you." He placed a light kiss on her forehead. "You have to know that."
"I do."
Obi-wan cleared his throat again. "There's still the issue of the Jedi Order. You have broken one of our most important rules."
"I know Obi-Wan..."
"Then you know what must be done. I will inform Master Yoda tomorrow."
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Anyone want to take over this story? Having to wait 4 months for a pretty short update isn't really fair to you guys.