Got this up within my promised time range! With only 30 minutes to spare!

This story is both so hard to write and yet it is also one of my more entertaining stories to write as well. I'm hoping you guys like reading it. I have such plans for it.

As always, Happy reading!

-DFD

Chapter 2

"Are you going to tell me what happened back there?" Anakin turned his head to look at his wife who stared back at him while they waited for the light to turn green.

"It was nothing," He said, giving a nonchalant shrug to brush it off.

Padme's eyes returned to the road as she started driving again. "Didn't seem like nothing to me," She said. "You were shouting."

He scoffed and rested his elbow on the window, "I wasn't shouting," He denied, turning his gaze to look out the window.

"Can you please just tell me? I know something's bothering you."

Anakin let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just…" He didn't know what he could say. The last thing he wanted was to tell her was that he could see spirits. She'd just think he's crazy and he didn't want to think about what she would do if she did know. His greatest fear was that she would leave him because no matter how many times they promise each other "forever" he doubts that would remain the case if she knew he was a freak. "It's just… Ben…" He finally said.

"Ben?" She asked, glancing at him for a moment to gauge his mood. "What happened between you two? I thought you figured out the problem with the supplier," She said, reminding him of the problem they had a few weeks back when several custom parts failed to be delivered.

Anakin shook his head, "It's not that…"

"Then what? Did Ahsoka come in late again?"

He let out a sigh and rubbed at his eye, "Well, yeah, but that's not it… He… wants to expand," He said at last, deciding pretending to be frustrated with the proposal was the only way to get Padme to leave the matter alone.

"And that's… bad?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He shrugged, "Sorta," He started. "I'm just not sure about a few things but Ben seems Hellbent on it."

Padme made a slight right onto their street before parking the car right behind his motorcycle. "He can't do anything without your approval," She said as she shifted the car into park and turned to look at him. "But is opening another shop really so bad? More customers, more income, you might even be able to work fewer hours and hire more mechanics," She smiled at him and took his hand in hers. "It's your choice in the end, though, and you know I'll stand behind you no matter what."

Anakin cocked a small smile before leaning over and giving her a chaste kiss. "I love you," He said, finally able to relax knowing she believed enough of his story to let the garage incident go.

Climbing out of the car, they made their way up to their apartment, "Now, tell me about your meeting with Mothma," He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, eager to get to a new topic of conversation. "I saw you put her in her place."

She laughed as her arm wrapped around his back, her hand resting on his hip. "Well, she had it coming," She said, "I mean, as a woman you'd think she would have enough respect for other women to know there are some things you just don't gossip about. And then she had the audacity to try and turn it into a story about me."

"You handled it well," He said as she opened the door to their apartment.

She scoffed, "I'm glad you thought so. It took everything I had not to tear her a new one." Anakin took her coat from her and hung it on the coat rack while she made for the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of Moscato from the wine rack and two wine glasses.

"I would have loved to see that," He said, taking a seat at the counter while she popped the cork on the bottle and poured.

Padme handed him one glass and took the seat next to him, swiveling the chair so she was facing him. "Maybe I will next time I will," She said, taking a small sip of her drink.

Silence fell between them. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence but rather the kind of natural silence that can only exist between people who are so connected they don't need to speak to feel whole.

Anakin couldn't get Qui-Gon's words out of his head. Sidious was obviously the name of someone but it was so unusual and so unfamiliar he had no idea who the spirit was referring to. Qui-Gon was trying to warn him of something or someone but while he appreciated the effort, he was hesitant to look into it further. Spirits had a tendency to omit detail in their warnings. It was as if some of them were so desperate for interaction they would do whatever it took to keep people like him talking to them even if it means someone else dying.

That was exactly what had happened with his mother. A faceless spirit had found its way into his dreams and had given him visions of the night his mother was killed in a car crash. The dreams had lasted for months and from the moment he woke the first time he dreamt it, he knew it was a vision but no matter how hard he tried to contact that spirit to get answers of when this happened and where and how to prevent it, the responses he got were so short on details that by the time it actually happened, he only knew what street the crash happened on.

"Are you thinking about the garage again?" His head shot over to look at his wife who was watching him carefully. "You'll make the right choice," She said, taking his hand in hers.

"Yeah…" He said, tracing the lip of his glass with his finger. He didn't know what to do. With his mother, he and Padme were only dating at the time and still didn't live together which afforded him the privacy he needed to talk to the spirits. Now that they were married and living together, it made it nearly impossible for him to do so. Add to that he didn't even know why he had to beware of this Sidious, made Anakin wonder if this was just yet another ploy from Qui-Gon to get him to 'embrace his gifts'.

The soft clink of Padme's glass being placed on the counter interrupted his thoughts as he felt his wife's arms wrap around his shoulders. Her lips found his neck as she placed feather like kisses on his exposed skin. Anakin turned his head and allowed their foreheads to touch as she came back up. Padme truly was a treasure to him. She had the uncanny ability to make his worries vanish with a simple touch. "Are you up for trying tonight? I was messing around with this ovulation site earlier and I think tonight we have a pretty good chance."

Anakin cocked his head to the side. "I thought you said those things were silly."

She gave a small shrug, "Maybe I'm wrong."

"You're never wrong," He scoffed.

"Is Anakin Skywalker really turning down sex?" She said with an amused smile on her face.

His lips curled into a sly smirk as he turned slightly and snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Not a chance," He said, Pressing his lips to hers.

If there was one thing Anakin hated about being the husband of the Deputy Mayor, it would be the social functions he had to attend with her. The events themselves were terribly dull and the suit he was forced to wear made him feel ridiculous. Even worse, Padme almost always found a way to trick him into helping her shop for the dress she would wear weeks in advance. This was how he found himself standing in the back of a local boutique holding a pile of Padme's top five dresses as she tried them on one by one. The saleswoman stood beside him, shifting on her feet, eager to make the sale that would boost sales for the next month or so. "Ani can you pass me the teal dress?" Her hand stretched through the curtain of the dressing room for him to pass the dress and he rolled his eyes as he sifted through the dresses for the blue dress she had picked out. Her fingers only barely made contact before she spoke again. "Teal, Anakin," She said. "That's the turquoise one."

"They all look the same," He groaned only to hear her giggle from the other side.

"Just pass me the light blue dress," She said, flexing her fingers in a beckoning motion for the dress. Rolling his eyes, he passed her the dress which she quickly pulled through with a quick thank you.

Anakin stepped back to his original position between the potted plant next to the full-length mirror and the saleswoman. It only took Padme a few minutes to emerge from behind the curtain, flicking her thumb behind her, a gesture he was well familiar with which indicated she needed help zipping. Passing the pile to the saleswoman, he came to stand behind her and did up the dress, trying to seem bored in an effort to get her to finish sooner. It was a game they played. He would try not to care what she wears and she would do her best to get him to crack. The dress she had on now was a teal, ankle length, one strap dress with a slit up her left leg. He didn't miss how the dress perfectly hugged her hips and the swell of her backside nor did he miss the knowing smile on her face when he realized he was staring at her reflection for too long. Safe to say she won their game more often than not.

"I take it you like this one," She said, stepping away from him and walking over to the mirror, turning from side to side as she looked at her reflection.

Anakin shook his head, "No, I just like you," He came to stand behind her again and leaned over her shoulder, close enough to whisper in her ear, "And I'd prefer we don't even go to this… dinner thing."

Padme laughed and walked over to the saleswoman, going through the pile for the next dress she would try. "Oh come on, you big baby, it's not going to be that bad," She said as she picked up a black dress and held it up to her body before disappearing behind the curtain again. "It's just a formal dinner to show our support of the police department and you get the easy part since you just have to mingle and talk about the weather and sports, while I have to deal with the reporters, city council members, police chief, deputy directors, and all the lovely official conversations that come with them." She emerged moments later in the black dress and he nearly groaned at the sight of her. She was torturing him. She knew what black did to him. And it was backless to top it off. "You know, you don't have to come if you don't want."

"Are you going to wear this dress?" He asked.

"Maybe," She said with a shrug, "I rather like the feel of this one.

"Then I'm going with you."

Padme covered a light laugh behind her hand, "Still don't trust me?"

He scoffed, "Oh, I trust you. It's the other men I don't trust."

She let out a sigh and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't possibly imagine why. Don't you know it's you I love?"

Anakin leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers while his hands rested on her hips. His possessiveness was one of his major flaws and one of the few Padme hated. They have worked hard to try and control it better but it was always still there. He couldn't help it. Growing up with so little it made sense for him to want to hold on to everything he has especially since he and his mom lost their house when he was three and struggled for the next four years until they managed to get the small trailer he spent most of his life living in.

"You could say it's because I'm a little overprotective," He said with a small smile.

"A little?"

He gave a shrug and took the moment to look at her in the dress. It hugged her form nicely, cutting off at mid-calf and had a collar that held the dress up. It was much simpler than the blue one she had on before and Anakin had always loved the way his wife looked in black. It made her look dangerous. "Can we go now?"

Padme laughed and shook her head at him, "I still need a dress," She said. "And there are three more I need to try on."

"Get this one," He said. "Simple but elegant, sexy but not slutty; It's not flashy so there will be more attention on your face, plus it means you can wear those black lace up heels you like that don't rub."

She took a moment to bite her lower lip in thought before nodding her head, "Fine," She said, leaning up to lightly peck him on the lips. "I'll be just a minute then," She returned to the dressing room to get changed back into her street clothes.

He smirked once she left only for it to fall once he realized he once again lost their little game. "Damn."

After bringing her purchase to the car, they decided to stop for lunch at the small bistro he had taken her on their first date. It wasn't far from the dress shop - only a little over a block down the street. It was one of their favorite places to go. The food was good and where it was in the city gave patrons a nice view of one of the lakes that surrounded the city.

The bistro was filled with many memories for them and it had all started with their first date. It had been far from the ideal date - awkward and uncertain as neither were particularly well versed with how to gracefully get through the meal but Padme at least was able to appear less nervous than he did and had the patience of an Angel with him as he stumbled over his words. She had simply smiled and waited patiently for him to finish before contributing to the conversation as if he hadn't just gone through ten different ways to say the same thing. Even more surprising, when the date had ended and he had somehow managed to ask her if she would like to do it again without repeating himself or stuttering, she for reasons neither could truly explain, said yes.

"…So the lady comes in claiming her car won't start," Anakin said as the waiter refills his drink, "When I go and try to figure out why…" He shakes his head as he tries to stifle his laugh. "She hadn't changed the oil in 30,000 miles."

Padme's eyes went wide. While she was far from the mechanical genius, even she knew to change the oil every 5,000 or so. And having a mechanic for a husband, she learned very quickly how to stay on top of it since he tended to treat vehicles with the same love and attention most people gave their pets.

"So, basically, she destroyed her engine. It was beyond even my ability to fix it, which means there is no power on Earth able to fix it."

His wife shook her head, "I can't believe that…" She said. "30,000 miles and only then did she bring it in… amazing."

Anakin gave a shrug, "It was probably acting up long before then. But some people don't think it's anything." He caught motion out of the corner of his eye and knew immediately it was a spirit. Anakin shifted in his seat in an attempt to ignore it and focused only on Padme.

"And you couldn't do anything?" She asked, sitting back and thanking the waiter as he brought their lunches to them.

"I sold her an engine," He said, scratching the side of his neck when he heard the spirit speak to him.

"I sort of feel sorry for her. I mean, she didn't really…"

Anakin squints as he tries to focus on her voice but her words are drowned out by the spirit raising its voice at him, leaving him no choice but to hear its words.

The spirit was a young woman from the sound of her voice but he couldn't make out much of her physical form. But her words stuck out to him. "Sidious is coming again," She said. "He lies. And she is a danger to you."

"Anakin?"

He shook his head as he focused on his wife again. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Her brow furrowed in concern as she watched him. "Are you alright?" She asked. "You had this far off look. What's wrong."

Anakin gave a shrug, "Nothing," He lied.

"Anakin…"

Her voice trailed off again as the spirit spoke to him again, demanding his attention. Anakin strained to hear his wife, focusing on her, trying to read her lips to keep the spirit out of his head, using every technique to avoid them he had used for the past thirteen years of his life. It didn't work. Nothing worked. And all he could hear was the spirit's voice. "She is dangerous. Your wife is dangerous. She will open a door you cannot close. A door that will destroy you."

The grip on his fork tightened as he tried to get the voice out of his head. He always knew this female spirit roamed around the bistro but she had never been this insistent before. And for her to know about Sidious as well, gave him cause to worry but to speak of his wife… that went too far.

"Stop talking!" He shouted, his fist slamming on the table, vibrating the plates and glasses. His jaw clenched as he tried to regain a sense of calm and only when he looked up did he see the look on Padme's face. Her eyes were wide with fear and worry for him. He couldn't hold her gaze long and let his eyes fall as he swallowed the lump in his throat. It was only then, did he notice not only was the spirit quiet but so was the entire bistro. Slowly, he raised his eyes to look around and found everyone's attention was on them.

"She will destroy you," The spirit whispered in his ear.

Anakin jerked his head away and threw his napkin on the table. "I'm sorry," He said, standing up and almost tripping over the leg of a table in his haste to get outside. He could hear Padme calling his name but he walked fast, crossing the street before she could reach him. He wasn't sure where he was going. But he knew he had to get away. He had to find a way to silence the spirits for good.