Note from the Author
PLEASE READ!
Yeah, I realize what I just did. Another boring chapter! I'm about to give up on making this whole "honeymoon" thing work. I need some help from my fans! I need you guys to tell me where to go from here. Ready? Okay!
In the comments, choose one of the following options for how you want the story to proceed:
1) Continue like we are. Go spend a couple chapters of peace and quiet (and possibly 'other things') on Corellia, then on to Naboo to meet the family and back to Coruscant.
2) Keep the rest of the honeymoon fairly vague, without any action, and get back to Coruscant quicker (some 'other things' possible once we're back on Coruscant.
3) Abandon the honeymoon altogether and get back to Coruscant like, now!
Things will speed up once they get back to Coruscant, that's for sure. Right now, I'm on scheduling constraints. I feel like the story can only go one way for me, because their life in the story is scheduled, if that makes sense. Once I get past this block, then the only limit will be my imagination, and nothing else.
Answer in the comments how you would like things to look, and we'll go from there. Thanks!
{trinity6diversia}
Chapter Ten
"Mandalorian Flight Command, this is General Anakin Skywalker, J-class Nubian. Requesting permission to land on platform Sixteen B. Access code, one-one-eight."
Nice to see you again, General. Access granted. Proceed on your intended trajectory.
The friendliness of the Mandalore Flight Command was welcome, but left Anakin on edge. The shielding system around the capital opened to allow the Whispering Winds access, and he piloted the vessel on the most direct route he could manage, keeping an eye out for any suspicious behavior. The whole thing was suspicious. Limited traffic, restricted airways, and few people in sight even then. It didn't seem right.
Their designated landing platform was a high level security platform near the palace, with numerous guard stations watching it. Anakin hovered longer than he normally would as he scanned over the platform with the Force, not caring in the least if his presence were felt. There were four landing guides already on the platform with their blinking lights to tell him where he was. And as the ship lowered to the platform, out from one of the access tunnels came Duchess Satine and her guards… and someone in brown robes who Anakin could feel before he could see him.
Nice going, Obi-Wan, he thought with a smirk, bringing the ship gently down. At least there weren't cameras and paparazzi. Yet.
Leaving R2 to secure the ship, Anakin straightened his tunics and brushed back his hair. He knew that Padmé liked it when he looked neat, so he made sure to do just that… before she got to him. Out in the main hold of the ship, he found her ready to greet the world. This time, she was wearing a yellow gown with a brocade underskirt and a light brown cape of sorts. It started at her waist and flowed in a short train behind her. She had her hair pulled up, again, and a ringlet of gold around it. She looked like a Princess. Anakin wasn't sure he liked that.
"Here, wear this," she said when Anakin came out, holding a dark blue cloak out for him. He had a whole wardrobe put together for him by Queen Breha before he left. He had to admit, Padmé and the Queen did a great job with making him look acceptable. And he liked not having to wear brown tones all the time. The clothes were similar to his Jedi attire, but better looking, different colors, and made him look more like a Prince, which helped, considering Padmé was still technically a Princess.
Today, however, Anakin had worn his Jedi clothes. They were better for travel, and any mechanical things he'd have to do in route. And now he slipped the cloak on his shoulders and secured it. At the least, it made him look slightly less rugged.
"There," whispered Padmé, reaching up to brush a wrinkle out of it. Anakin could tell that she was worried again.
"Don't worry," he said, trying to reassure her, even though he was anxious as well. "Obi-Wan is here. We should be fine."
Padmé nodded as the loading ramp went down, then arm in arm, they walked off the ship, Anakin's other hand on the blaster at his side. He didn't care if he was a Jedi. Blasters were still quicker.
"Senator Amidala," acknowledged the Duchess when they had reached the end of the ramp. "It is so good to see you."
"Duchess Satine," acknowledged Padmé with a curtsy and a bow of her head. Anakin only inclined his head, then glanced at Obi-Wan with a raise of his eyebrow.
"Circumstances being what they are, perhaps we should retire indoors," said the Duchess, and the others couldn't agree more. The city was bleak and foreboding, and it left Anakin feeling uneasy. He could tell that Obi-Wan felt the same from the creased look on his face.
"Any new developments?" asked Anakin when the two men fell behind the others. He kept his voice down so no one else would hear.
"Threats, the occasional explosion, unsettlement," answered Obi-Wan. "No one has died yet, but its only a matter of time. I'm trying to convince Satine to leave, but she won't. I might advise you to do the same."
"And I might agree with you," answered Anakin. "But we're here to show the Republic that all is well. We can't leave due to war threats."
"You are a diversion," was Obi-Wan's grim reply. "You're here to be a cover up for the real problem. This universe is not at peace; it never has been, it never will be. Until things change. The people need to see that, but they won't just so long as you and Padmé smile at the cameras and act like everything is fine."
"Everything is not fine," said Anakin, his anger rising. "Padmé and I are the most recent proof that there is a problem in this universe, and a problem in this system. When did the Republic fall this low."
"When it became a dictatorship," answered Obi-Wan grimly, and there was a sadness in his eyes that surprised Anakin.
"Who is to blame?" asked Anakin, but Obi-Wan would not say. Those were evil times, and treacherous words could prove the end.
As it were, there was little time to discuss anything. As soon as Anakin and Padmé had been ushered to their rooms, there was a great rush to prepare for dinner, and after a very hearty meal with the Duchess and Obi-Wan, the newlyweds had gone off to their first interview. It was harder this time, and there was no funny business. Anakin could feel every disturbance within Mandalore, and it left him tense and ill at ease. Thankfully, the cameras couldn't pick that up, but Padmé could, and halfway through the interview, she reached over to take his hand, stroking it gently throughout the rest of the interview. It helped to calm Anakin, at least on the outside.
After the interview, there was a short 'viewing' time, in which Anakin and Padmé simply had to stand, looking very much in love, while the cameras flashed at them. Anakin could only take a few minutes of this, because it left his internal 'battle' sensors on high alert. It was a relief when they could finally leave and return to their rooms.
"There is only one more interview," said Padmé as Anakin collapsed on the bed. "It is tomorrow morning, and after that, we can do anything we want. Not that we would want to do anything, especially outdoors."
"I'm not going to sleep tonight," answered Anakin.
"Nonsense," said Padmé. "You are going to sleep. I'll make you sleep."
"I'm a Jedi," he said, lifting himself up on his elbows to look at her. "I come to places like this to find traitors and kill assassin droids. Not smile for cameras and love on my wife. I don't think I've ever slept the last few times I've been on Mandalore."
"Well this time you will," said Padmé gently. "Obi-Wan is here, and plenty of guards. We are safe."
"For a while," sighed Anakin, rolling over on his stomach.
And then something very large, very furry, with very bad breathe and slobbery kisses jumped up on top of him, and he yelled as he received a hearty face washing. Thunder, of course, was used to this interaction, and tackled his master. Lady, who had originally been Duchess Satine's before she was given to Padmé, was off catching up with her old mistress.
There was a knock on the door while Anakin was being tackled, and between fits of laughter, Padmé went to open it. Obi-Wan was there, looking grim, as he had the entire time since they had arrived, and without hesitation, Thunder leapt off the bed and onto Obi-Wan. That was enough to get a smile on the old man's face.
"Do you have a minute, Anakin?" he asked as soon as Thunder had collapsed on the floor for his tummy rub.
"Of course, Obi-Wan," he answered.
"You can stay too, Padmé," said the Jedi Master with at glance in her direction. She went over to a chair near the window, followed by Thunder, then Obi-Wan, and finally, Anakin, who did not sit like the other two, but stood staring out the window, in conscious meditation.
"I have a fear about Chancellor Palpatine," said Obi-Wan then, always straight forward when it came to something that concerned a great many people. He was looking at Anakin. "We were talking about a dictatorship, and you asked who was to blame."
"You think it's the Chancellor?" asked Anakin, turning to glance at his Master, though his voice did not seem surprised. He was good at hiding his true emotions.
"I suspect it is," said Obi-Wan with a sigh. "Too much about the Chancellor is foggy. The Dark Side clouds him, conceals his true colors. I have no doubt that a part of him is dark, and his work and his motives have not been used for good."
"What makes you say that?" asked Padmé, but she was more concerned then defensive.
"He has stayed in office longer than he should," answered Obi-Wan. "And he has done so much during that time, some of it good when it happened, but not longer. We are in a war that we should never have been a part of. And this universe is being single-handedly controlled by one person, one very deadly, very dangerous person. If you were still Queen now, Padmé, you would have to answer to him."
"I… I had never thought of that," said Padmé in a soft voice.
"I fear his motives, and I fear what he has done to the two of you," said Obi-Wan. "You should never have been married, and there should be no obligation on either of you for what you are required to do. None of this should have taken place. At all."
"But were we to refuse, we would be called traitors," said Padmé, her eyebrows narrowed. "Anakin would have been pulled from the Order by either the Council or the Chancellor. And I would have been removed from the Senate. He could have destroyed us, Obi-Wan."
"Yes, I know," answered the Jedi Master.
"I never thought about that," said Anakin from the window, his voice soft and contemplative.
"The Chancellor has you in a headlock," said Obi-Wan. "All of us. Even the Council. Although the Council has done nothing to stop him. You have done what he has asked. You can do nothing more."
"No," whispered Padmé. "We haven't."
"You have married, as was his wish," answered Obi-Wan, understanding what she was saying in not so many words. "He has not yet commanded you to do anything more, although we all know what he was really getting at."
"No, Chancellor Palpatine said it to me directly," said Anakin then, coming over to stand behind Padmé. He rested a hand gently on her shoulder. "He has become bold, and hides very little from me. He told me what the assignment really was. He made sure not to give me a choice."
"And me," said Padmé. "I was not given a choice, either."
"Then we all have our hands tied," sighed Obi-Wan.
"And what are we to do about it?" asked Anakin.
"Whatever you can," said Obi-Wan. "Start by leaving Mandalore. Soon. Make for Corellia and spend a few days in peace, then Naboo. And when you return to Coruscant…" He turned to Anakin. "You must do everything in your power to protect her."
"I already am," he answered.