Roughly one year had passed since the wedding. The galaxy was at an uneasy peace. There hadn't been a major victory or defeat in the Clone War since the rescue of Chancellor Palpatine. The Jedi had come no closer to capturing Dooku, and Palpatine, without Anakin as his eyes and ears in the Council, was cut off from them. There was a small group of Senators, including Padme Amidala, that was growing more and more worried about the Chancellor's power as time went on. But as long as the war continued, their voices were drowned out by the demand that Palpatine keep his powers until Count Dooku could be caught. The entire galaxy, it seemed, was at a stand still.
But on Corellia, particularly the corner that belonged to Dax and the Skywalkers, the war was far from everyone's minds. Anakin now practically owned the garage he began working in, Dax had opened up several new casinos in the area, and Jordana had traded in her wrenches for financial books in order to help Dax keep track of earnings he made from all his businesses. By now, anyone who was close to Dax knew their identities, but they didn't care. If Dax trusted them, they had to be alright. Anakin and Jordana had been trying to start a family for a while, but after two years they still had no children. And with no word from Tahira, they never learned of her fate. They came to the assumption that she had chosen to stay behind with Obi-Wan. Jordana, the one who felt most betrayed by this notion, had given up on ever seeing her former mentor again and allowed her anger and hurt to ferment deep inside her heart. Regardless of this and their failed attempts at having children, their lives were, as far as they knew, perfect.
"Hey Jordie,
you home?" Anakin called as he walked into their apartment. He
heard her yell a reply from the kitchen and found her pulling pots
and pans out of the cupboard. Leaning against the door frame, he
continued to watch as she carefully read instructions on the backs of
food packages.
"I thought I told you I'd make dinner tonight."
he gently reminded her.
"Yeah, well, I got home early and I
figured I'd practice this cooking thing some more." she
sighed.
"Oh come on Jordie," he advanced towards her, "your
cooking's not that bad." He wrapped his arms around her waist and
gave her a quick kiss, "Besides, cooking always puts you in a bad
mood," his voice lowered to a husky whisper, "and then you're
no fun later."
He pushed her gently against the counter, capturing her lips in a tender yet passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He slipped his hands underneath her shirt and rested them gently on her sides. Their passion had increased to when they heard the distinctive beeping of their doorbell. Anakin groaned and gently pressed his forehead against hers.
"Damn it."
"Do you want to get the door, or should I?"
"I'll get it." he replied, quickly kissed her, and walked over to the door.
The sliding
doors opened to reveal Anakin's friend, Dante, standing there with
a small collection of holodisk containers in his hand.
"Hey
Dante, what's going on?"
"Did I, uh, interrupt
something?"
Looking over Anakin's shoulder, he saw Jordana
walk out of the kitchen.
"We were about to make dinner."
"I'm
just dropping off your junk mail." he said, handing Anakin the
contents he was holding.
"Thanks. Did you want to stay for dinner?"
Dante shook his head, "No, my girlfriend's got something special planned for tonight." he replied mischievously.
Anakin laughed, "Alright then, I'll see you later. Have fun tonight."
"Oh, I will. Later, you two."
Anakin shut the sliding doors as Dante left and began shifting through the holodisk containers. As usual, most of it was just downloads for coupons. One of the containers, however, wasn't clearly labeled. He looked it over quizzically before handing it to Jordana.
"What is it?", she asked.
"I don't know. But I guess we'll find out," he answered. She put the disk into the player. Palpatine's face appeared on their screen.
"Hello Anakin. You cannot even begin to comprehend how happy I was when I discovered that you and your friend, Jordana, were still alive. Rest assured that I am the only soul that knows your secret. I'm contacting you because I need your help. I'm requesting that you return to Coruscant so that I may further discuss the situation with you. I look forward to seeing you both again soon."
Silence
filled the air for several minutes, before Jordana spoke.
"He's
got to be crazy." she commented, "We can't go back, it's
suicide."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." he replied, obviously
distracted.
"Anakin, you're not actually considering going
back thereā¦are you?"
"Jordie," he began, "if he went to
this great a length to find me, it's got to be important."
"I'd
like to know how he found us in the first place. And even if what he
needs you for is important, going back is a big risk."
Conflict
tore at his heart. He knew she was right. If they went back, they
risked getting caught. But at the same time, he couldn't refuse his
old friend and mentor's plea for help. Jordana could see this too
and she knew what course of action he wanted to take.
"I can't
ignore him." he whispered.
"Anakin, this could be a trap."
"How?" he demanded, almost angry at her for thinking that if Palpatine had found them he would betray them.
"I don't know, but it's not a possibility that I'm willing to rule out."
"I don't believe that."
Jordana sighed. She didn't want him to go back. There was no way of knowing whether this was indeed a trap or not. And even if it wasn't, she wasn't thrilled with the idea of just letting her husband run the risk of getting caught. But Anakin had already made up his mind and there was nothing she could say to change it. That didn't mean he had to go alone.
She responded
simply, "I'm going with you."
"Out of the question; It's
too dangerous."
"Which is exactly why I'm going with you."
Anakin was about to counter her argument, but gave up that thought. The look of pure determination on her face suggested that she wasn't going to give this up until he agreed to let her go with him. After nearly a year of marriage and close to fourteen years of friendship, he'd learned that she had one hell of a stubborn streak.
"Very well. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
She stared at him for a moment, slightly confused that he had given up the argument so quickly. Usually, their arguments lasted at least two hours.
"We?"
He nodded, a warm smile forming across his lips, but she still looked stunned. "What? I've given up arguing with you."
"That's something I never thought I'd hear from you," she finally replied.
