Note 1: Thank you for all the review/alerts/favorites that I have received, you guys are truly awesome and I know each and every one of you.

Note 2: This takes place during ROTS, right after Anakin and Obi-Wan return from rescuing Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous.

Note 3: Star Wars and its affiliates do not belong to me, only the contents of this Verse.

Note 4: Thank you to my betas; TACAitsH and Young at Heart21.

Chosen: Restoration

Chapter 13: Hell To Pay

By WrittinInStone

Rustling sheets…exposed skin…the bite of her teeth…

Obi-Wan flipped the page of the document that he was reading, trying to concentrate on its contents.

Satiny smooth skin…hot mouth…moist tongue…

The Jedi Master clenched his lips, trying to block out the thoughts that were invading his mind. He looked down at the text and read the line he was on again. This would be the seventh time.

Long legs…strong thighs…sweaty chest…

Obi-Wan slammed his book shut with a thud; he had finally had enough. "Anakin, Padmé," He said carefully, calling on all of his training as a Jedi to remain calm. "We need to talk."

Obi-Wan sat in the records room of Twilight's Rain, with Anakin and Padmé. They had been poring over the documents there for about three hours now, looking for information on the ships origin. So far, they had found nothing. They had called manufacturers, constructors, even the politicians in charge of handing the transfer of the ship; anyone who had any hand in obtaining the ship, yet miraculously, no one had any information about who the ship came from. It was as if everyone's mind had been swept clean.

When it became clear that talking to the people involved led to nothing but dead ends, they once again hit the records, searching to see if they had overlooked any clue that would lead them to the Yangau. The lack of progress had been frustrating for Obi-Wan, but the real problem had begun an hour ago when…thoughts began to flow into his mind. They were thoughts of things of which he had no knowledge; skin, sweat…pleasure.

When he realized that he was sensing Anakin and Padmé's thoughts, Obi-Wan turned red and began to sputter in embarrassment. When asked by the perpetrators if something was wrong, Obi-Wan had merely shrugged it off, hoping that their thoughts would stop. They hadn't.

The Jedi Master was confused by it, how could he sense their thoughts now when he had never before? I have never been with them like this before, Obi-Wan realized. This is the first time we've all sat together like this, and I don't really spend any time with Padmé. I was able to block Anakin alone, but I cannot block both of them together, especially when their thoughts are in conjunction. Plus, whenever we were together, there were some seriously pressing matters at hand. But now, we're just reading through the same documents over and over again. They're bored so their minds are wandering.

As the minutes passed, and their thoughts became steamier and more detailed, Obi-Wan felt like a voyeur. In the logical part of his mind, it was amazing to him; as far as he knew, neither Anakin nor Padmé could read the other's thoughts, and yet it seemed as though they were both feeding off of one another. It was as though they unconsciously knew that they were thinking about one another and it caused their thoughts to swim with...need.

Suddenly it was all too much. Due to recent events, like Anakin's relapse and Padmé's pregnancy, it had not been the best time to address the elephant in the room, but now it was and Obi-Wan was ready to kill the bitch.

"Do you realize," Obi-Wan began carefully, "That for the past hour I have been over here, futilely trying to block your thoughts?"

"What?" Anakin said, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Obi-Wan said icily, "That you two are broadcasting your current thoughts to the world. As a matter of fact, they are so loud that it is taking all of my concentration to keep them out of my head."

"Wait," Padmé said suddenly, her face beginning to turn red, "You…you've been sensing my thoughts? For the past…hour?"

"Yes." The Jedi Master said, staring hard at her," I've been sensing both of your thoughts."

"Oh, Force." Padmé moaned, burying her face in her hands. If she could have died at the moment, she would have gladly done so. "Oh, Force. Please, kill me now."

Anakin looked at her in confusion. "You were sensing our thoughts," The young man said clearly. He tried to clear his mind of its cobwebs, but it was difficult, he had been having a very good daydream before Obi-Wan's outburst about sensing his thoughts… Suddenly, Anakin's eyes lit up as understanding dawned.

"Oh. Yeah. Right." The Knight said as his own face began to heat up. "Wow. That's embarrassing."

"Yes." Obi-Wan said coldly. "Now, while we're on the subject of your…relationship. I want answers, and I want them now."

Before either of them could say anything, Obi-Was was on his feet and pacing the floor. "I cannot believe you two." He said, his anger beginning to spill in his voice. "I have known you since you were a boy, Anakin. Padmé, we have been friends for a long time. How could you have kept all of this from me?"

"And what the hell were you two thinking? Getting married! Anakin, you're a Jedi! Did that mean anything at all to the two of you? What, did you think that you could have your cake and eat it too? I thought that you two had more sense than this. Do you realize what type of position you have put me in? If I tell the Jedi Council about what you've done, I'll be betraying my two closest friends. If I don't, I'll be betraying the Order that I swore to protect."

"I mean, hell, did you really think you could be in close proximity and hide this from me? I must have the intuition of a log for you to think that! By the Force, you two…" Obi-Wan took a deep breath as he paused in his tirade. The Jedi Master pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to calm down.

"Obi-Wan," Anakin began solemnly.

"What, Anakin!" The older man, turned angrily with flashing eyes.

"You're right." The young Knight said quietly.

Obi-Wan blinked. "What?" He said sharply.

"You're right, Obi-Wan." Anakin said calmly. "Everything that you have said is absolutely right. And…we know that you're angry and you have every right to be, but…I don't think that you can understand how happy we are that you know. For the longest time I thought that I could handle everything myself and when Padmé begged me to tell you, I always said no."

The young man paused before proceeding, "But then, when you risked yourself by coming on Twilight's Rain with me, I realized that I had tried to keep you out because…I was afraid. You've always been so critical that…that I felt…well, I felt as though I couldn't talk to you. But when you came here with me, I realized that…you really must care for me. That's when I decided that it was past time for you to know. I'm sorry you found out this way, but I can't say that I'm sorry that I married Padmé or that you finally found out. Either way, I am really, truly sorry. I am."

Obi-Wan's face was expressionless as he listened to Anakin's confession. When the young Knight finished, Obi-Wan just looked at him and shook his head.

"I wish that what you just said to me made a difference." Obi-Wan said quietly, "I wish that it were enough this time, Anakin," The Jedi Master said, looking at the younger man, "But it's not."

Obi-Wan turned away from them and made his way to the door. "You two should prepare yourselves; I'll be informing the Council of your actions this evening. There will surely be hell to pay for all that has been done."

"You must do what you feel is right, Obi-Wan," Anakin said softly, sorrow in his voice. "I truly am sorry."

The Jedi Master lingered for a moment longer before leaving. He said nothing as the door shut behind him.

#*#*#*#*#

"I hurt him bad, Padmé." Anakin said softly, staring at the book in front of him. "I've never seen him look like that."

Padmé said nothing as she began to gather the documents on the table. "I want to speak with him." She told her husband. She went to him and put her arms around his neck. "Everything will be fine. Meet me in the dining hall in the ninth hour of the night. Obi-Wan will join us."

Anakin turned his gaze to his wife, searching her face. "Yes," He said, squeezing her hand, "It will be as you say."

"Thank you, my heart." She said smiling in his face. "Thank you for trusting me."

He grinned wryly, "It is my privilege to do so." He kissed her gently on the forehead before exiting the room.

Padmé took a deep breath and gathered her courage as she headed toward Obi-Wan's room.

#*#*#*#*#

"Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan looked up at the soft sound of his name. It was Padmé. The Jedi Master struggled to keep his expression neutral as he turned away from the petite Senator.

"Senator Amidala," He said without inflection. "What can I do for you?"

Padmé's eyebrows rose at his greeting, but she said nothing as she moved to sit down in front of the Jedi. They sat in silence for what seemed like a long time before she finally spoke.

"Obi-Wan," Padmé began quietly. "I came here because I wanted to tell you something. I don't expect this to change anything, but I wanted you to know everything before making your decision." She took a deep breath and began.

"I know that you are hurt and angry and confused by what we did. I won't believe for a moment that just because you're a Jedi, you don't feel. That's an urban legend I know to be false. I know you're angry at the reason Anakin did not tell you and deep down, you feel betrayed. Because everything you said, everything you did was because you wanted Anakin to be safe, to be a better Jedi."

Padmé paused and then shook her head as she continued, "It's exactly as Anakin stated earlier; everything you said was right. We both knew better, but we did it anyway. But I want you to understand, Obi-Wan. I love Anakin. He is…" She paused once more as she searched for the word. "Anakin is everything to me. From the moment I first saw him, it was as though I recognized him. I became…bound to him and him to me. And when he got older and I saw him on Coruscant, little did I know that I was a goner."

She smiled as she recalled the battle that she had with Anakin, how she had tried in vain to resist him at every turn. "I tried, Obi-Wan, I tried so hard to give up on him, to deny my feelings. And when he finally complied with my decision, I felt as though I had died. Then we went to Geonosis and everything changed. Anakin and I were just moments from being executed and I looked at him and thought, 'All that I have worked for, everything that I have done in my life comes down to this, and in the end, I wasted it all by pushing away the only thing I have truly ever wanted.' That day, I decided that I would do that no longer and I told Anakin that I loved him. A small time later, we married on Naboo."

"The battle on Geonosis was three years ago." Obi-Wan said woodenly, "Three years, you've been married for three years?"

"Yes," Padmé confirmed. "But Anakin and I are not the point of this story."

"Oh, really?" The Jedi Master said monotonously, "What is the point of the story."

"The point of the story is that when Anakin loves someone, he loves them hard. He loves them to the exclusion of all other things."

"Why are you telling me this, Padmé?" Obi-Wan asked suddenly, "Why should this matter to me? Why should anything that you're telling me stop me from contacting the Jedi Council right now—"

"Because Anakin loves you, Obi-Wan." She said quietly, breaking through his tirade, "He loves you."

Silence followed her proclamation, but she did not stop talking; Obi-Wan needed to hear this. "You really don't see the effect your words have on him, do you? How highly he regards you? You don't see how much you mean to him? How even just a small word of encouragement from you makes him shine? If you understood how important you were to him, then you would understand how difficult it was for him to keep this from you."

She stood up, feeling as though she had done all that she could. When she reached the door, she paused and turned to the Jedi Master. "If you would just show him that you care for him, that you respect him, then you would never have to worry about any outside negative influences again. You would never have to worry about him withholding things from you; he would tell you everything that was in his life and in his heart."

She bit her lip and then foraged on. "We're having dinner at the ninth hour. Whether you tell the Jedi Council or not, we want you to be there." With that, Padmé exited the suite leaving behind an even more confused, very pensive Obi-Wan.

#*#*#*#*#

"I tried, Anakin." Padmé said sadly, "I thought he would be here."

It was fifteen minutes past the ninth hour and Obi-Wan still had not shown. Padmé bit her lip as she tried to hold back her tears. She had really hoped that he would come tonight, really hoped.

"I guess we should eat, then." Anakin said softly, looking at his plate. "I don't think he's going to co—"

"What?" A voice interrupted him lightly, "You're just going to eat without me?"

Anakin and Padmé both turned to see Obi-Wan walking towards them with a small smile on his face.

"Obi-Wan." Anakin breathed, his whole demeanor lighting up. "You're here."

Obi-Wan felt warmth suffuse him at the look on the younger man's face. He looks so happy to see me. By the Force, the Jedi Master thought in a daze, Padmé was right. He does love me. Why didn't I see this before?

"Of course, I'm here." The Jedi Master said lightly, folding himself into the available seat, "There's food here and I'm hungry."

"Master," Anakin said in exasperation, "Haven't I told you about thinking with your stomach?"

"That's what any intelligent man would do," Obi-Wan said loftily, as he picked up his eating utensils, "Only fools think any other way."

"Yeah, right." Anakin said, rolling his eyes, "Remember that time you got sick when you thought with your stomach on the Killian System? And what about on the Trelm System? And remember that time on the Ptery System…?"

"Those times were not my fault!" Obi-Wan exclaimed as his face began to turn red. "And the dishes on the Ptery System looked edible to humans!"

"Master! The denizens were talking fish! They gave you fish bait!"

"Well," Obi-Wan replied, sniffing indignantly, "They offered it to me! It would have been rude to refuse, besides, it was delicious!"

"Master. You were in the bathing room for days."

"Well…what about you, Skywalker." Obi-Wan returned, pointing a fork at him, "I'm not the only one who makes unwise choices when it comes to food!"

"What?" Anakin gasped in mock outrage. "Just what are you implying? Are you talking about that rare plant we found on Cato Nemodia? It smelled like chicken!"

Padmé had to bite her lip at their bickering as joy flooded through her. She knew that by no means was the issue of their marriage closed with Obi-Wan and she did not know if he had contacted the Jedi Council or not. But for now, those things did not matter. Obi-Wan was at their table and they were a family again. At that moment, it was more than enough.

End of Chapter 13: If you love it, tell me, or I'll have to assume you hate it.

Chapter 14: Speculation: Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan speculate on the nature of the illness.

((***If you simply LOVED this, please check out my other story: Soul's Scars.))