Chapter Seven
The rooms Bail had set aside for Anakin and Padmé were specially picked for their situation. It was on the fourth level of the palace, in the main body, flanked on both sides by guarded wings. The ceiling was high, easily three times taller than a normal room, and there were floor to ceiling windows, covered in flowing drapes. A special light shield could be activated to distort the intensity of the sun at certain times of the day… or ward off the paparazzi. How they could have gotten a view into those rooms was beyond Anakin's imagination.
The main room had a massive bed against one wall, set on a dais, with a high canopy over it, and thin drapes surrounding. Directly opposite of the bed was a large fireplace, and against the windows on the far wall were arm chairs and a loveseat. A pair of double doors led out onto the vast balcony with a view of the far mountains and the palace gardens. Beside the fireplace was a door which led into the fresher, and another which led into a massive closet. It was a comfortable room, and lavish, and to Anakin, completely impractical.
"What the heck…" he grumbled under his breath, looking up at the high ceilings and grimacing at the size of the bed. He shook his head and looked around. "Padmé?"
"I'm in here," came the relaxed reply from the fresher, and Anakin could hear water running. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't rush to see her. Instead, he pulled off his outer clothing and boots, retaining his pants and undershirt. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, then went to the fresher door, knocking gently.
"You can come in," said Padmé from within, and Anakin carefully opened the door, scanning his eyes over the room as he did so. There was a long counter with two sinks, and under a large window, on another dais, was the turbo tub, a large tub with dozens of jets and hot water. He found Padmé there, fully submerged, her head resting back on an ornate pillow, specially designed for that very purpose.
"Any difference, My Lady?" teased Anakin, grinning as he saw Padmé's fully relaxed face almost nod off.
"Worlds," was the blunt reply. "I want one of these."
"Where would you put it?"
"I don't know. I guess you'll have to buy me a house for it."
"Whatever makes you happy, My Lady," answered Anakin, suddenly feeling the weight of that day come on him, almost like a bag of bricks set on his shoulders. He sighed and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms across his chest, his face setting grimly as he found himself looking aimlessly at the ground.
"Where have you gone off to?" The question surprised him. Or rather, the tone. Padmé had been stressed and overwhelmed for so long that Anakin had forgotten how gentle and kind she was. That was her personality, except when she had the paparazzi on her tail.
"Nowhere," answered Anakin with a thin smile. "I'm fine."
"Anakin…" Padmé gave him 'the look' and he pointedly ignored her. After a moment: "I won't ask you to join me, but you can sit beside me. And can you bring me some more of my bubble bath. It's on the counter. Breha gave it to me." Breha being the wife of Senator Organa, and the Queen of Alderaan.
Anakin brought her the bottle, then sat down on the dais beside the tub, leaning his head back against it while Padmé poured the bubbles in and watched them foam up. He gazed at the ceiling, glad that the light in the fresher wasn't bright; he may have reached his annoyance level if they were. He took a deep breath to relieve some of the tension in his muscles, and as he released it, he could suddenly hear a lot clearer than before. Or at least he could hear Padmé playing with her bubbles behind him.
"I used to have a ducky," she said then, as if to herself. "It was yellow. And it floated. I miss that ducky."
"I'll get you a ducky," smiled Anakin, closing his eyes and taking another deep breath. "We'll have a big fleet of ducks, one for each of our kids."
"That would be wonderful," sighed Padmé, but when Anakin glanced at her, he saw her smiling softly to herself, her eyes closed as she leaned back in the tub. They sat in silence for a while, Anakin slipping into solo meditation, suddenly realizing how well he could meditate when Padmé was so close to his consciousness. She provided a peace and restfulness that he rarely managed on his own. He could hear the water moving gently over her skin as she ran her fingers through the bubbles, and it calmed him.
"Anakin?"
"Mmm?"
"What are we going to do?" The tone brought him out of his meditation and back to the moment. There was worry there, and nervousness, and everything else he'd sensed from Padmé over the past day they'd been married. There was a broken heart behind that voice, and a soul that was on the verge of giving up.
"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice strangely quiet as he looked across the room and refused to turn and face her.
"I'm not ready to be a mother…" It was a whisper, a horribly painful whisper, and Anakin knew Padmé couldn't make herself speak any louder. Defeat was not in her nature, and certainly not in her vocabulary.
"No one's asking you to be," he answered.
"The Senate is. And the Order. And the universe. They expect it. They believe I'll give it to them."
"They don't know what they believe." The tone in Anakin's voice would have struck fear into anyone, but Padmé found it strangely comforting. "You'll do what you do when you want to, not when they tell you."
"I want to," she whispered. "I want to be a mother. I just know… that I can't be. Not until…" She paused and looked at Anakin, who was staring across the room with guys that burned with a hidden fire. Silence reigned for a moment, and then Padmé spoke again.
"Anakin, why did you kiss me?"
He shrugged, then took a deep breath and leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he did so.
"Anakin…" It was 'that' voice again.
"I'm not responsible for my actions."
"Ah, like you weren't responsible for stealing my ship."
"That was a decade ago. And it was a dare."
"Ah…" Padmé smiled softly, then reached out and softly stroked Anakin's hair out of his face, noting how his features relaxed when she did so. "I like your hair better this way."
"Anything for you, dear," he grinned, his eyes still closed. Padmé pulled herself away from her lounging position and wrapped her wet, bubble-covered arms around Anakin's neck, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. He grinned wider, then gently pried her arms free, grimacing at the water running down his neck.
"I'm going to meditate," he said, pushing himself to his feet to get away from her. Padmé watched him go, smiling to herself, then returned to her previous position, content, for a moment, with the way things were.
Anakin stretched his consciousness out to lightly brush against Padmé's, just to make sure she hadn't been too badly offended by his sudden departure. He couldn't deny that his wife had turned him on, and would continue to do so, he was most certain, every day for the rest of their married life, which, he hoped, was a very long time. Even he, Anakin Skywalker, couldn't deny the chemistry between them.
I'm just one big sucker, he thought to himself as he evacuated from his shirt and left it laying on the bed. Out on the balcony, he found the air pleasantly warm, the stars bright above, and no sign of their stalkers far below. Well, except for their land cruisers, which were parked all over the property. Bail's guards were working overtime.
It did not take long for Anakin to return to his point of meditation. Padmé was still close at hand, which helped him, and the warmth of the air, and the freshness of Alderaan. Certainly not like Coruscant, which was covered in smog and smoke. Out here, he could breath. He felt alive. He felt human.
For a long time, Anakin remained in his state of meditation, breathing in the air and refreshing his limbs. He reached a point, as he always did, where he could feel every sensation of his body, and strange though it was, it told him he was doing something right. He could have pulled out of his meditation at that point, but he decided to remain where he was, hands behind his back, legs slightly apart, eyes closed and chin raised so he could breath fully. It was such an amazing feeling after the stress of the past two days.
Anakin was only slightly aware when Padmé at last pulled herself from the tub and dried off, slipping into her nightgown and slippers behind the dressing screen in the corner of the room. She gathered Anakin's clothes and folded them on a chair, then sat on the end of the bed and dried her hair with a towel, loosely braiding it as she watched her husband out on the balcony. Anakin could feel her eyes on him, but so deep was he in meditation that it was only a flicker in the back of his mind, but one which made him smile.
And then arms were gently encircling his waist and a head was leaning against his bare back, and Anakin was coming back into awareness. He had felt her approach, and smiled to himself as he took several measured breaths and opened his eyes.
"Can we just live here?" whispered Padmé from behind him, and Anakin pulled out of her arms so they could trade places. He didn't feel awkward at all wrapping his strong arms around her and holding her tight with her back to him. She stared up at the stars overhead, and when he looked down at her, he could see them reflected in her eyes.
"Maybe," he whispered back, leaning down to plant a tender kiss on her shoulder. "Someday."
"Someday," she breathed, leaning her head back against him, her eyes never leaving the stars in the night sky. "Someday soon? Or… not so soon?"
"Would you just trust me?" he laughed then, his laugh soft and kind, with a firm undertone. "Just trust me…"
He gently kissed her neck, then the top of her ear, and when she closed her eyes and leaned back into him, he knew he should stop or he would loose control. The fear she felt was still there; she still wasn't ready. So he pulled away and took her hand, wrapping the other around her waist as they went back indoors.
"Exhausted, My Lady?" he asked with a smile, closing the doors behind them. Padmé grinned devilishly.
"Last one in has to bring breakfast in bed tomorrow morning!"
"No fair! Your side is closer!" And so Padmé was in bed before Anakin was, and he didn't care in the least. He planted a tender kiss on her lips, then pulled the blankets up and let her snuggle up close to him. In that moment, he knew he could get used to this.