Chapter 7.

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'I Am Yours, In Life And Death, I Am Yours. I Love You'

It was a secret, it always had to be a secret. If Obi Wan found out, if the emperor found out...terrible things. It had to remain a secret, that's the way it always had been.

She had become addicted, as did he. Their silent meetings, only for short periods of time, still, even in the darkness it was a feeling like no other. He thought she was just a ghost, haunting him, making him suffer and yet he longed for the moments she would next appear to him. She thought it was just her greatest desires giving her the moment she longed for so many times, within her trance, a trance that she took so often. 2 Meditations a week became 1 meditation a day. They became addictive, and yet neither of them knew this was no ghost haunting him, this was no desire in her trance, this was happening, this was real, a connection, in the force that allowed these star crossed lovers to have their moment together. To not touch each other, not a word spoken, not a moment of anger or hatred, just a moment, a moment where she would sit opposite him, 10 feet apart like always, sharing simply a look.

"Anakin I am yours, in life and death, I am yours...I love you, I will always love you."

Those words always made their way back to his memory, hidden so deep in the roots of his brain so conflicted with its darkness, consumed by evil. Those words, would never fail to be in his mind whenever she was in front of him. Even in her 'death' she was his, it was the only thing that kept him from crumbling in the life he had chosen.

She was not in love with this robotic man the galaxy feared so much. She was in love with the man behind the mask, a man she knew was suffering and a man she knew was not completely gone with this evil. She knew this was wrong, even if she believed it to only be a trance, at her own naivety, any connection to Anakin could threaten everything she had fought so hard to protect for the last 10 months.

So, it was a secret, it always had to remain a secret.

Padme broke from her morning meditation, she had seen him once more, 10 feet apart, she had seen him, once more they sat and stared so intensely to each other as they both connected through their love, he was a desire and she was a ghost. She broke from her trance upon hearing her ten month old children, crawling children, babbling away lots of baby sounds that didn't make sense. They crawled through the sand towards their mother after Obi Wan and Mali had took them out from the hut for some air, crawling to the woman they loved so dearly, Luke used her back to pull himself up and stand using her body as a support since he was very new to this. Whereas Leia, she crawled to the front of her mother, in between her legs and sat back as she giggled a happy giggle at the sight of her mother in front of her. Padme couldn't help but smile, moving her arm around Luke to help him stay standing and pulling Leia closer to her. Obi Wan watched and smiled, it was a beautiful picture, a mother and her two children, happy. He only wished Anakin could be there to join the family, his family.

"Hi my babies." She whispered softly as she squeezed them playfully, kissing their foreheads either. Luke pulling on her long brown hair and Leia grabbing her mother's chin, Padme laughed at their actions before laying back in the sand allowing them to crawl over her small figure. Luke laughed as he dropped to his knees, his hands placed on his mother's chest and shoulder, whilst Leia found the humour in climbing and sitting on her mother's stomach. Padme just laughed, this was such a happy moment, she wouldn't change a thing about her children, they were the best thing that had ever happened to her, they were so perfect.

That evening as the twins went down for their bedtime, Padme left them in their bedroom with the door slightly closed so that she could hear them if need be, before going to sit with Obi Wan and Mali at the round concrete table in the centre of the main communal area in her hut. The deep wooden bowls held her hot evening soup, that soothed her throat once she swallowed her first mouthful. She watched as Mali and Obi Wan too enjoyed their supper. Their company was great, she was so grateful for everything the pair of them had done for her the past 10 months. They made everything about this process so much easier and she honestly didn't know where she would be without them.

"We must take a greater caution these next face days." Obi Wan said softly after he finished his soup. Padme's eyebrows arched as Mali too looked to him. "Why?" Padme asked softly in curiosity of her friend's concern. "I've been keeping track of the sith fleet, regular updates ensure your safety." He said simply, it was never our, or we, or his...no for Obi Wan his first concern was always Padme and the twins. "There has been word of the sith fleet roaming the Arkanis sector, sightings of imperial ships around the system of Najiba. I cannot express the importance of keeping a low profile now more than ever, we don't know their intentions and I am afraid I cannot defend and entire planet from a sith fleet alone." Obi Wan said in regret, knowing it was his duty and yet he could not do that. Padme leaned over to take his hand, "You have done more than enough...and we are forever grateful." Padme assured him with a soft smile before finishing her soup. "We will keep a low profile, I won't let the emperor find my children." she stated before going to put her dish in the cleaner.

After a goodbye and goodnight was exchanged between the three adults as Obi Wan left her hut, Mali too said her goodnights before heading into her room across from Padme's, the room of the Twins in the middle of the both women's rooms. Padme ensured everything was safely locked and secure, before granting the droids their downtime, turning down the lights and heading into her room herself, but not to sleep.

She sat on the floor of her bedroom, her legs crossed and her back straight, for the second time today, she closed her eyes and controlled her breathing before allowing herself to become fixed in her dream. She had become more than addicted, it was no longer a desire, it was a need a want, she could not focus properly until she had seen him. It took all off 3 minutes before she was lost in her trance and a further 2 minutes before she was sat in front of him, her breathing controlled as she sat 10 feet apart, once more staring into the eyes of her love she so brokenly lost.

10 feet apart.