Chapter 30

Anakin found the chat around the dinner table to be rather amusing, and almost surreal. Sola's husband was unable to join them, and so he was the only male surrounded by the women of the Naberrie family. He could barely keep up with the banter that was flying back and forth between them. Much of the conversation was centered on the latest date that young Ryoo had had with the newest man in her life. He wondered if his own daughter engaged in such silly talk when it came to Han Solo. Somehow I doubt it…

"So Mum says you're going up to the lake retreat," Sola said, addressing Anakin as the family sat in the parlor after dinner.

He looked at Padmé, and then back at Sola. "Well, perhaps eventually," he replied. "I don't want to push Padmé into doing something she's not comfortable with."

"Why would you be uncomfortable going up there?" Sola asked her sister. "You love it up there!"

"I don't remember it, Sola," Padmé explained, trying to be patient with her sister's pushiness. "I may very well have loved it, just as I loved many things, many people; but I don't remember. I hope in time I will, but right now, it's just a place that's unfamiliar."

"I'm sorry," Sola said. "I didn't mean to upset you, Padmé."

"You haven't" Padmé replied. "I'm just …tired, that's all. It's been a very eventful day."

"Yes, it certainly has," Anakin said. "And a very long one as well." He looked at his wife. "Maybe it's time you got to bed, Angel."

Padmé noticed her nieces exchange a smile at the sound of his pet name for her. "Perhaps you're right," she said. "I am pretty tired."

"And we should be going too," Sola said. "It's been so wonderful spending time with you this way, Padmé," she said, standing up and walking over to Padmé. "Let's be sure to do it again soon."

Padmé stood up to hug her sister. "Absolutely," she said. "I look forward to it."

After all the goodbyes had been said, Sola and Pooja had gone, Padmé decided it was time for her to retire as well. She and Anakin bade goodnight to Jobal and Ryoo, and left the room together.

"You'll have to show me your purchases tomorrow," Anakin said as they left the room. "I know how tired you are."

She looked at him as a thought struck her. "I forgot that I bought something for you when we were out," she told him. "I felt badly that I was getting all these lovely new clothes, and didn't want you to feel left out."

Anakin smiled. "That was very thoughtful of you," he said. "Thank you."

"Well, don't thank me yet," she said. "Maybe you won't even like them."

"If you picked them out, then I'm sure I will," he replied.

Anakin followed her into her room, and sat down in one of the upholstered chairs in the corner. He watched her as she opened the parcels that were piled on her bed.

"That looks nice," he said as she pulled out a dress to hang up.

"My mother thought the color suited me," she said, holding it up against herself. "What do you think?"

"I think your mother has excellent taste," he replied. "It suits you perfectly."

Padmé smiled, and then hung the dress up in her wardrobe. Next she pulled out a two piece set, trousers and a blouse. And then a long, more formal dress.

Anakin paid little attention to the clothes she was showing him, although he made sure to comment on each item. He was far more engaged by her, by her enthusiasm and excitement. He was seeing more and more of the Padmé he once knew, and it fueled his hopes that the memory loss she had suffered was reversible, and that given enough time, she would come back to him.

Finally, when she had almost reached the end of the purchases, which included several new pairs of shoes and at least three pairs of boots, she found the items that she had bought for him.

"And finally," she said, "at the bottom of the very last bag, of course, are the things I bought for you."

Anakin stood up and walked over to her. "That was very kind of you," he said, taking the clothing from her. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," she said. "It was the least I could do after everything you've done for me."

Anakin put the pile of clothing on the bed and picked up each item one at a time to look at it. For not having any memory of him, she did a very good job of choosing clothing that both suited him and fit him. He was delighted.

"Do you like them?" she asked.

"Yes, very much," he said as he looked over at her. "You knew exactly what to get."

Padmé smiled. "Lucky guess," she commented.

Anakin laughed. "Maybe so, but I…" he stopped as he looked at the last item he held in his hand. It was silky, and long, sleeveless and black- and obviously not meant for him. He looked at her with wide eyes. "Is this for me too?" he asked with a smile. "It's lovely, but I think it might be too small."

Padmé was horrified. "I…no, I mean, no it isn't," she said, snatching it from his hands. "I'm sorry…Sola talked me into that one…I don't know why I let her…" she stammered, her face utterly red.

Anakin did his best not to laugh at her embarrassment, and merely smiled as she hastily shoved the negligee into a drawer. A mental image of her wearing something very similar to that popped into his mind, and he had to turn away from her lest she notice the way he was looking at her.

"Well I guess it's time we both got some sleep," he said awkwardly, picking up the pile of clothing from the bed once again. "I hope you sleep well," he added.

"Thank you," she said. "Goodnight Anakin."

"Goodnight Padmé."

Anakin walked across the hall to the room where he would spend what was sure to be a restless night. He set the clothes his wife had bought for him on the chair in the corner of the room, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours that he had scarcely had time to take it all in. The fact that his wife, his angel, was sleeping in the room across the hall from him was incredible to him; having spent half his life thinking she was dead, it still seemed like a dream that she was actually alive. He smiled to himself when he remembered the look on Padmé's face when he had held up the slinky negligee. The fact that she had purchased it at all was quite surprising to him. She had said that Sola had talked her into it; but he knew his wife well, and knew that she could not be talked into anything unless on some level she wanted it herself. But why would she? Unless she was thinking that at some point she would be wearing it for me…no...Don't even go there, he told himself as he pulled off his tunic. The fact that she was sleeping so close by was frustrating enough; but to think that she had bought that piece of lingerie for him was too much.

Kicking off his boots, he lay back on the bed, his arms under his head, and stared up at the ceiling, trying his utmost to put the image of his wife wearing a black negligee out of his mind.

Although he had seemingly forgotten the fact that he had undergone massive surgery a short time ago, Anakin could not deny how exhausted he was. It had been an emotional few days; he had not even realized how tired he was until he fell into a deep sleep mere moments after he had closed his eyes.

He woke up several hours later having had a very vivid dream about his wife. He had dreamed of their home on Coruscant, he was teasing her, as he often did, and she was laughing and smiling at him in the way that made his knees grow weak.

Deciding that he would sleep no more that night, Anakin got out of bed, pulled on his sleep shirt and left his room.

It must be hard to have sworn your allegiance to the Jedi Order. It is so demanding, isn't it?

Yes, very much so.

I can't imagine not being able to go the places you want, or do the things you want to do.

Or be with the people I love?

Love? Are you even allowed to love? I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi.

Attachment if forbidden. Possession is forbidden; but compassion, which I believe is truly the heart of real, unconditional love, is at the very core of every Jedi. It is what makes us who we are. So, I suppose you could say that we are encouraged to love.

You have grown up, Anakin. You have changed so much since you were that little boy I knew so long ago.

You haven't changed a bit. You're exactly the way I imagined you in my daydreams...

Padmé sat up in her bed, the dream she'd just had startling her into a wakened state. Was that a dream? Or a memory? She wondered. The young man she had seen looked very much like Anakin, but younger. Was this a memory of my past with him? She sighed and lay down on her side once again, closed her eyes and tried to return to the dream she'd just been having.

Sixth planet of the Hoth System- Echo Base Hangar Bay

"I don't care what Goldenrod told you, you are not taking apart that motivator again, got it?"

Chewbacca grunted something in response, which only made Han roll his eyes in response.

"Yeah, same to you pal," Han muttered. He made his way back to the hold and noticed that the comm. screen indicator was blinking.

Han sat down at the screen and activated it. The face of Anakin Skywalker appeared.

"Hey," Han said, still unnerved by the former Dark Lord. "What's up?"

"Solo," Anakin replied with a nod. "I would like to speak to my children."

"Sure thing," Han replied. "How's your wife?"

"She is well, thank you," Anakin told him.

Han nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'll go find Luke and Leia."

"Thank you," Anakin replied.

Han got up and left the hold of the ship, grumbling about being a secretary for the Skywalker family. He found Leia conferring with General Dodonna in the newly built command center. She looked at him when he spoke to her.

"Message for you Princess," he said. "From your dad."

Leia knew that Han meant her real father. She and Luke's relationship to Anakin was still a secret from all but Han, Chewbacca and, of course, Obi-Wan. As far as Dodonna knew, it was Bail Organa who was contacting his daughter.

"I'll be right back," she told Dodonna.

"Give your father my best regards," he said in reply.

Yeah, that's likely to happen, Leia reflected as she walked away with Han.

"Any idea where Luke is?" Han asked.

"He's out doing sentry duty," Leia replied. She looked at her wrist chrono. "He'll be finished his shift soon." She activated her comm. link. "Luke, so you read me?"

The sound of strong wind was heard, followed by Luke's voice. "Copy Echo Six."

Han smirked at Luke's attention to protocol.

"Luke, come to the Falcon when you're finished your shift," Leia said.

"Everything okay?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Leia replied as she and Han entered the hangar bay. "I'm about to find out."

Luke was silent for a moment and all that was heard was the howling wind. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he said finally. "Echo Three out."

Leia ran into the freighter and to the comm. screen. She sat down, smiling when she saw her father's face.

"Hi," she said. She noticed the way he was dressed. "Going casual?" she asked with a smile.

Anakin glanced down at himself, and laughed. "Well it's the middle of the night here," he explained.

"Can't sleep?" Leia asked an expression of concern on her face.

"I've slept some, but I think I'm finished for the night," he told her.

"How's Mother?" she asked.

"She is well," he replied. "I took her out of that place; she's here with me at your grandmother's house."

"That's such a relief to hear," Leia replied with a smile. "I suppose she's sleeping right now though, isn't she?"

Anakin nodded. "Yes," he said. "But she wants to see you and Luke. I told her about you."

"What was her reaction?" Leia asked.

Anakin was about to reply when Luke entered the hold, still dressed in his outdoor gear.

"Hi," he said his face still red from the cold. "What's going on?"

"Mother is staying at Grandmother's house now," Leia told her brother. "Dad told her about us, Luke."

"You did?" Luke asked, looking at Anakin.

"Yes," Anakin replied. "She asked if we had any children, so I told her about you. She is very anxious to meet you."

"And we want to meet her too," Leia replied. "Can we make that happen somehow?" she asked her father.

Anakin sighed. "I don't know, Leia," he replied. "As much as I would like to have the three of you meet, it's far too dangerous for you to be traveling across the galaxy. The emperor has spies everywhere. It's simply too dangerous."

Leia and Luke were disappointed, but they understood their father's line of reasoning. They knew how relentless Palpatine was, and knew that he would be more than willing to use them to exact his revenge upon their father.

"Can we at least talk to her?" Luke asked. "On here?"

Anakin nodded. "Of course," he replied. "I will contact you tomorrow."

"I can't wait to meet her," said Leia with a smile.

"She knows nothing of what happened at Polis Massa or at Mustafar," Anakin told them. "Not yet."

"We'll be careful what we say," Luke said. "Don't worry."

"Very well," Anakin said, stifling a yawn.

"Looks like you need some rest," Leia said.

"I think you may be right," Anakin replied. "I will talk to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Father," Luke said. "Sleep well."

Anakin switched off the comm. screen and stood up, stretching as he did so. As he approached his room, he stopped at Padmé's door. He thought he'd heard her voice, and listened for a moment. I must be imagining things; he thought when he heard nothing. He waited a moment longer, and then returned to his own room.