"Listen, all you gotta tell me is where you want this."
"The kitchen, of course, just as it's written on the box. Where else would it -"
"I don't have the processing power for that. I'm just built to lift. Where you want it?"
Padme smiled as Threepio was sent into another tizzy of flustered complaining. Hiring actual movers would have saved the poor droid a lot of headache, but the moving droids could have their memories wiped. They would not remember Threepio's complaining, nor the location of the villa in the Lake District. There would be a small tickbox checked in their logs: another job done and paid for. But the details would drift away on the wind.
It was a beautiful day, though it was hard to find any time that the Lake District wasn't beautiful. She was looking forward to taking the time to drink in each subtle change. Coruscant remained the same static buzz, a constant hurry and blur that all blended in to one another. Here she could see the grassy plains slowly mature from tender shoots to waving green before mellowing into harvest-brown hay. There was even a pasture across the way - perhaps they'd see the shaak lambing in spring.
Gingerly, her hand reached up to trace along the side of Anakin's face, and he smiled. Easily exhausted as he was, he was basking in the sunshine, glad to be well enough to go outside. The gentle slope cradling the house was a perfect perch to sit and watch the movers. It was beautiful to simply watch him relax, drifting in and out of sleep.
"What do you think about nunas?"
"Mmn?" He drew in a deep breath, opening one eye to look at her.
"Nunas. Maybe just keeping a few in the back. There's enough space for a garden." He leaned into her gentle petting as she traced her fingertips softly across his cheek. "Just two layers can keep the garden free of pests, and we'll be drowning in eggs with just the two of them."
"Lucky that I know how to make scrambled eggs," Anakin said with a drowsy grin.
"Roasting a nuna isn't that hard, either." Padme paused a moment before admitting: "At least, it seems like it wouldn't be that hard. It's, ah... been a little while since I've done much of my own cooking. I hope you don't mind the occasional burned meal."
He reached up, gently placing his hand along her arm. "It's got to be better than pre-packaged Republic meals."
She laughed softly at this. And the wind picked up, dancing around them, lightly perfumed by the scent of blossoms in the fields. Down below them, Threepio flailed at another one of the bulky moving droids. It wouldn't be long until they were finished. The house was by no means a mansion - Padme was fairly confident that her flat at Coruscant had been larger in terms of floorspace. But it was an elegant little house, and most importantly, it was... manageable.
"Ani?" Padme almost held her breath, even as she spoke. "You're... you don't mind this, do you?"
"The house?" He blinked, looking up at her curiously. "No, it's fine. Wonderful." Padme gently pet back his hair from his face, and his blue eyes met her own. Every so often he had the uncanny ability to look not only to her, but past her - into something she was barely aware of. Perhaps it was the look of a Jedi. Obi-Wan always made her nervous with much the same effect. But his eyes... there was a peacefulness there Padme hadn't seen in years.
Truthfully, in being so blinded from the Force, Anakin could see with a greater clarity than ever before. There were no more mists of the Dark Side - and there was nobody there ready to mislead him through the mired swamps. There were no terrifying nightmares to shake him out of sleep and into worrying about Padme. Of course there were long nights when he stayed awake, but the pain was honest and straightforward. It was present reality that could be soothed by Padme's gentle touch, instead of some distant future that he felt responsible for.
That future would press onto them later. There was an unspoken agreement and realization between the two. Sometime - perhaps sometime soon - he would be well enough to start wondering about his burden to the Republic, to the Jedi, and how that agreed with his obligation to Padme. She could at least edit speeches from afar and let Sabe work in her stead. There was no such long-distance work in war.
"Ani, I..."
Gently, his hand wrapped around her wrist, a slow and soft expression - probing with his fingertips where words wouldn't do.
"I know," he murmured gently, and smiled.
And she gave a sigh of relief.
"I realize you haven't seen much of it yet, but you'll like it. Old-fashioned wooden floors, lots of windows. And it's come partially furnished. I know it's two stories, but -"
He squinted into the distance a moment, examining the house as it sat along the hillside sloping downward to the small lake. "...Is that the main bedroom?"
"Mmn-hmm. And once you open up that bay window, it's an amazing view towards the back out towards the swamp. ...And perfect sniper's nest, too, since the other way is covered by the lake. If anything happens I'll be able to pick off any invaders for at least ten clicks before they notice me. Not that it'll happen, but if anything does, this is the most easily defensible house in the entire Lake District."
"...Padme?"
"Yes?"
"This... This is why I love you."
"I love you too, dear."