Oh hi. I promised not to wait too long, and here I am again. Oh, and the song was "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders. ;)


She came home late again. He was waiting in the sitting area, in the dark, when she arrived. He startled her, for she gasped and lay a hand across her chest.

"Anakin... I didn't see you there."

"Padmé..." His mouth felt like the desert wastelands of Tattooine. He swallowed. "Padmé," he tried again. "I need to speak with you."

She sighed wearily. "Anakin. It's been a long day. I would like to get some rest. We can talk tomorrow." She turned, considering the discussion concluded, and headed for their bedroom.

"It can't wait," he insisted, a bit too harshly, but it had the intended effect. She stopped in her tracks, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"All right." She retraced her steps and came to stand next to the sofa on which he was seated. She declined to join him on the sofa, which he assumed to be her way of attempting to keep the conversation short. He feared it would not conclude as quickly as she hoped. Padmé stared down at him expectantly, almost impatiently, which did nothing to calm his already frazzled nerves.

"I... I've made a mistake." He glanced up at his wife, but her facial expression betrayed nothing. Her presence in the Force was cloudy, indecipherable. He pushed forward. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Her brow furrowed, and he felt her sudden tension at his words. "What are you talking about?"

"I..." He struggled with the words, turning away from her and leaning forward. Resting his elbows on his knees, he took a deep, shaky breath. He had been agonizing over this since leaving Obi-Wan's apartment. What could he say? How should he say it? Should he soften the blow? Could he even soften this at all? How do you explain to your childhood love that you have betrayed her in the worst way possible? "I had sex with Ayana," he confessed, his words coming out in a rush. The release of this secret he had only been holding in for several hours brought a strange sort of painful relief.

Padmé froze, all emotion suddenly erased from her features. Like a blow, he felt her completely shut him out through the Force. He didn't have the time to consider how she could have done so, or whether she even realized she had done it. "Wh...what?"

"I'm sorry, I... I am truly sorry," he fumbled as he uselessly sought to explain, to apologize, to fix this wound that had hardly begun to open. "I don't know how or why it happened, I just-"

"When?" she cut him off, her usually mild voice suddenly powerful.

"T...Today," he admitted, his shoulders slumping.

An eerie silence settled on the room. Only the soft sounds of their breathing could be heard. He tried to reach out to her with the Force, attempting to offer some sort of comfort, or... he wasn't quite sure what. She remained closed off to him, still and emotionless.

"Was this the first time?" she demanded, breaking the silence at last.

"Yes." He wanted to look at her, but he found he couldn't. He was too afraid. He was a coward.

"Who knows about this?"

"Just... just Obi-Wan. I... I went to see him after... I..." He faltered. There was no way he could justify, explain, or excuse his actions. Obi-Wan was right. He just needed to be honest and allow her to process this. He suddenly realized how terrified he was of losing her more than he already had.

She remained as still as a statue. He finally dared to peer up at her. She wasn't even looking at him. She was staring into the distance, her eyes cold and but her face otherwise expressionless. Something inside Anakin broke at her lack of reaction. He had expected tears, he had expected a screaming match, he had even expected her to hit him. He was not at all prepared for this coldness.

"Padmé," he whispered.

She still would not look at him. "Do you love her?"

"Padmé, I-"

"Do. You. Love. Her?" she repeated, her words punctuated and hard.

"No," he said truthfully. He wanted a chance to show her that he meant it, but she had shut him out and refused to budge even the slightest. He was hopelessly lost and completely at her mercy. Thus far, she had shown none.

"Why, then?" she asked in a frustratingly impassive tone.

"I... I don't know," he told her. He felt himself shrinking with every second that passed. "I... I could feel her through the Force," was his weak admission.

He could have sworn he saw her flinch, but if she did, she quickly righted herself. He waited for what seemed like forever, regretting his words and wishing he could properly explain, but finding himself mute. She did not utter a single word. She stood like a stone, completely impenetrable to him. Suddenly, she turned from him and stormed away from him. He heard their bedroom door open and close a moment later, followed by the unmistakable sound of the locking mechanism ensuring that he could not join her for the night.

In that moment, he knew that it was over. He hung his head and allowed the bitter tears to flow.


Padmé collapsed against the door, struggling for breath. It was as if the sitting room had been suddenly rendered devoid of air, and having escaped its deathly grasp, she could breathe at last. Now that she was here, though, there was hardly enough oxygen in the air to fill her lungs. So many emotions attacked her all at once. She felt blindsided. She felt overwhelming guilt. She felt pain like she had never experienced before. Her eyes aimlessly searched the ceiling as she clutched at her chest, nails digging into her bare skin as if she would will the air through her flesh into her lungs to give her breath. Tears began to flow in cascades down her face. She sank to the floor and buried her face in her dress, where her sobs were graciously muffled.

"Anakin... Anakin," she wept into the soft folds of her skirt. "What have you done?"


The End.

Jk, we not done. Hold onto your hats; it's about to get bumpy.