Chapter 17
Anakin and Obi-Wan had spent six months away from Coruscant and Ventress had led them on a marry chase around the galaxy, always remaining one step ahead of the two Jedi tracking her. The first time they faced her as a team had been right after they had been deployed to Sorenno, she had arrived moments before they landed and three of them dueled within the walls of the grand mansion but Ventress had known where the secret passages were and used that knowledge to her advantage to slip away. They had cornered her once again on Jabiim in an abandoned ore mine where she had been hiding for two months but she relied on trickery to once again slip through their fingers and disappear. Their dual had been fierce and Anakin had managed to destroy one of her lightsabers but before they could completely disarm her she managed to slip into the shadows. After that incident she seemed to have disappeared completely and they were left to follow empty rumors in her absence. Both Jedi were growing weary of their chase and longed to return home, even if it was only for a short period of time.
The political side of things was going far better than the attempt to bring Ventress to justice. Once the Separatists had learned of Ventress' treachery they had turned against her rather quickly and another group of Republic Senators had been sent to Raxus to discuss a peace treaty. The treaty had been ratified in a matter of days and balance was once again restored within the Republic. Palpatine had managed to remain in office far longer than even his emergency powers had dictated, even after Senator Farr had called for a vote of no confidence. Padmé and Bail wanted to use the footage they had seen of Palpatine threatening Dooku but the Jedi insisted on keeping that secret until it was time to put their plan into action.
"This is getting out of hand," Padmé sighed as soon as she and Bail were completely alone in her office after another meeting with Master Yoda and Master Windu. "Palpatine needs to be brought to justice before he can tear apart the Republic and the Jedi are refusing to do anything."
"Patience Padmé," Bail said with a hint of a grin on his face. He was growing certain that her frustration had little to do with Palpatine and rather the prolonged absence of a certain Jedi Knight. "As soon as Ventress is brought to justice we can move on to the bigger fish."
"How do we know that he hasn't had Ventress killed?"
"Don't you think that the Jedi would have felt it if something like that had happened?"
"Well he's obviously very good at hiding his presence in the Force if it took the Jedi so long to realize what he really is."
"Padmé, relax, I'm on your side remember?"
"I'm sorry Bail," she said, getting to her feet to stand in front of the large windows of her office and began gently massaging her temples. "This whole situation is just driving me crazy. We know the truth but we can't do anything about it."
Bail walked over to stand beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know that it isn't just the situation getting to you."
She glanced up at him from under thick eyelashes as a wry smile tilted her lips. "How do you and Breha deal with it?" she asked. "The separations?"
"It isn't easy," he said honestly. "And luckily we've never had a separation that lasted longer than a couple of months."
"That doesn't answer my question. What do you do about those… urges?"
He wanted to laugh for what he felt was the first time in months and instead settled on a chuckle that drew a frown from the woman standing next to him. "I don't know how appropriate that conversation is," he answered.
She groaned and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "It's starting to drive me crazy. I don't sleep well anymore because I have… dreams… and its rather frustrating to wake up from them."
"Welcome to the reality of having a spouse halfway across the galaxy from you," he teased.
"You're not helping," she snapped. "I should just contact Breha, I'm sure she'd be more help than you are."
"I wouldn't doubt that seeing as you two have something rather important in common."
"And what's that?"
"You're women."
Padmé allowed herself to giggle at his words, and blushed bright pink. "I'm sorry," she finally said.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I think I would be more sympathetic with Anakin anyway."
"Typical male, always sticking with the other boys."
"It's the truth. I'd understand what he's going through better than I could understand what you or Breha goes through."
They fell into a companionable silence as they watched the steady streams of never ending traffic speeding along the numerous airways. It was almost easy to forget about the problems that plagued the galaxy while looking at the hypnotic site and for a long while they lost themselves in their own thoughts.
"How is Breha?" Padmé finally asked, breaking the silence.
"We received some rather disheartening news last week when I was home," he admitted and when she glanced up at him he continued, "We were told that to attempt another pregnancy would not go well for her. The healers don't know why she is unable to carry a child after conception but they were rather adamant that she not try again."
"I'm so sorry," she said, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But there are always other options to have a child."
"We're beginning to look into them. We would have loved to have a child that was our own flesh and blood but we agreed that adoption is our preference now that that is out of the question but we are nowhere near ready to begin that process," he said. "Have you and Anakin discussed starting a family some day?"
"Not at length but we both would love to have a child if we are blessed with that," she said.
"It truly is a blessing," he said.
"Everything will work out for you and Breha," she said softly. "You will find a wonderful child to raise and that child will be blessed to have you as parents."
"Thank you. You're a very good friend, Padmé."
"My lady," Threepio said from the door of her office, interrupting the two Senators.
"What is it Threepio?" she asked.
"There is an incoming transmission for you," the newly gold plated droid said. "It appears to be a Jedi signal."
"Excuse me," she said to Bail. He simply nodded and left the office. "This is Senator Amidala."
"Hello Senator," Obi-Wan Kenobi's familiar voice replied.
"Obi-Wan," she said in surprise. "How are things going out there?"
"Not as well as we would like," he replied.
"Is Anakin there?" she asked hopefully.
"Actually he doesn't know that I'm contacting you. He's out running a perimeter check."
"What is then?"
"I don't know if you are aware that his lifeday is next week."
"Go on."
"I was hoping to surprise the boy. He's been particularly anxious lately and I was hoping that if you could surprise him for that occasion it may help settle him again so that he can refocus his attention on the matter at hand."
"You want me to surprise Anakin for his lifeday?"
"Essentially yes."
"Where are you? Or where are you going to be on that day?"
"I'll send you the coordinates on a secure channel."
"I'll try to get away," she said but he knew that she would be there.
"Thank you Senator."
"Is there anything else that I can help with?"
"If I think of something I will let you know."
"Very well. Have a good evening Master Kenobi."
"And you Senator."
The transmission ended and as soon as it did she felt a sense of giddiness settle over her at the prospect of seeing Anakin again.
Anakin had spent his twenty-first lifeday keeping an eye on a shopkeeper that they had been told was in contact with Ventress but as had been the case for the last two weeks the day proved to have been wasted on such a useless lead. He took the long way back to the inn where he and Obi-Wan had been staying, needing the time to clear his head and to try to relieve some of his excess energy. Obi-Wan had insisted on taking the night shift for this particular day and Anakin wasn't about to complain when it meant that he would actually get to sleep during the night for the first time in weeks.
"That shopkeeper is a sleemo but I doubt that he's the type Ventress would turn to," Anakin said as he entered the small room. He tossed his cloak onto the floor at the foot of his bed and with a groan he sank down onto the narrow bed, closing his eyes.
"We were tipped off about a sighting of her leaving his workshop and until we can be completely sure that it is a false lead we need to keep an eye on him," Obi-Wan said, fighting to hold back a smile as he masked Padmé's presence from his former apprentice.
"Why don't you take the night off Master? We could go out and have a drink," Anakin suggested. "It is apparently my lifeday after all."
"I don't think so young one," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin opened his eyes and sat up only to gape in shock when he saw Padmé standing right in front of him. He blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes, trying to dispel the image but she only beamed at his actions. "Pad… Padmé?" he finally managed to croak out. "How did you get here?"
"It was Obi-Wan's idea," she said as he got to his feet and embraced her tightly. "He wanted you to have a pleasant lifeday."
"You did this?" he asked his former Master. "Why?"
"You deserved a little reward for putting up with all this nonsense for the last few months," Obi-Wan said.
"Thank you," Anakin said, unable to truly wrap his head around the fact that the woman he loved was nestled within his arms. "Now I know why you insisted on taking the nightshift."
"Yes, well… stay out of trouble you two," Obi-Wan said rather awkwardly. He patted the younger man on the shoulder and bowed his head to the Senator before he left.
"I can't believe you're actually here," Anakin said as soon as they were alone. "And that Obi-Wan planned this."
"Obi-Wan has a sneaky side too," she teased, grinning up at him and letting her eyes drink their fill of him. He looked older than she remembered, a little more worn down, but his eyes still sparked with energy. He felt bigger too, taller and broader. She reached up to touch a new scar on his cheek and in the next instant found his lips on her own, kissing her with greedy passion. She whimpered her surrender to him and melted into him as she eagerly kissed him back.
After they had sated their passion and settled under the thick covers on the bed, Padmé found her thoughts drifting back to the conversation she and Bail had had a week ago. She lifted her head from where it rested on his chest and propped it one of her hands as she looked at him. Gentle fingertips brushed a stray curl from his forehead and his eyes opened at the touch, a sleepy smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Depends on what it is," he replied through yawn. "As long as it isn't anything about this damn mission then you can ask me anything."
"Do you want children?"
That question surprised him and whatever tiredness had been in his eyes was gone in an instant. "Of course I do, when the time is right," he said. "Why?"
"I'm just curious," she lied, biting down on her bottom lip and glancing away from his questioning eyes.
"What is it Padmé?" he asked softly.
"Bail and Breha just learned that they are… that they can't have a child naturally," she admitted, settling back in against his chest so that she did not have to meet his eyes.
"Oh," he said, still unsure why she had asked. "You can, right?"
"As far as I know," she said.
He was still unsure of where this topic had come from and instead focused his attention on kneading the tension from the nape of her neck. "When the time comes and if the Force wills it then I would be the happiest man alive," he whispered against her hair.
"I know," she replied. "I'm sorry I brought this up."
"Don't be. This is something that we need to consider as possibilities in our future together. It makes sense to discuss things now. Well I think it does anyway."
She lifted her head again and pressed her lips to his. "I love you," she breathed against his lips. "So much."
His arms tightened around her and she sighed contently. "That's all I could ever ask for," he said. "Now get some sleep, you look like you haven't slept properly in a week."
"It's been longer than that," she whispered against his chest. "But I should finally sleep tonight."
He pulled her closer and felt her body begin to relax as sleep began to pull her under. When he was certain that she was asleep he kiss her brow and then closed his own eyes, his contentment making it easy to fall asleep for the first time in months.
The next morning came too soon for the young lovers and with great reluctance they managed to pull themselves out of bed to shower, which inevitably led to one final moment of passion for them. He took her out for breakfast at a tiny diner that he and Obi-Wan frequented and then walked her to small docking area for the town.
"This will all be over soon," he promised, pulling her close as he leaned down to kiss her.
"Just be careful," she said.
"I'll do my best." Suddenly his comlink began to beep insistently and he pulled it out to answer it. "Master, what is it?"
"Ventress is here."
"What? Where?"
"She's heading for the docking bay. She just picked up something from our friend."
"I'm at the docking bay right now."
"Do not engage her until I get there. Do you copy?"
"Yes Master."
Anakin saw an unmistakable hooded figure hurrying down the street with a package tucked under arm in the next instant.
Padmé followed his gaze and recognized Asajj. "Anakin, you heard Obi-Wan," she warned when she felt him tense within the circle of her arms.
"Obi-Wan's too far back, she's going to get away unless I do something," he insisted, pulling out of her embrace. "I'm going to get on her ship."
"What? No!"
"I have to," he said. "I'll turn a tracking device on and you and Obi-Wan can follow us."
"She'll know you're on her ship."
"No. I've gotten good at masking my presence," he said. "I have to do this Padmé. I have to end this."
She tried to stop him but he was out of reach and following his target towards her ship. He waited until she was onboard before sneaking on just as the landing ramp began to close. Moments later the ship took off.
"Where are they?" Obi-Wan asked breathlessly, startling Padmé.
"He's on her ship."
"Oh I have a bad feeling about this."