Note 1: This takes place during ROTS, right after Anakin and Obi-Wan return from rescuing Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous.
Note 2: Star Wars and its affiliates do not belong to me, only the contents of this Verse.
Note 3: Thank you to my betas; TACAitsH and Young at Heart21.
Chosen: Restoration
Chapter 15: Fishing for Janken
By WrittinInStone
The vastness of space never failed to blow Padmé's mind. Intelligent minds had discovered amazing technology that enabled sentient beings to travel at the speed of light, yet despite this, it still took days to travel to the end of the galaxy.
Padmé stood at the window of her and Anakin's suite. They were only a day into their three-day journey to Tatooine. The three of them; Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan, had collectively decided to take these days to rest before facing what was sure to be an emotionally draining experience.
She turned from the magnificent view of the stars to survey her husband. He stood at the opposite end of the suite with his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes closed.
Ever since their decision to pursue the origins of Shmi Skywalker, Anakin had spent much time in meditation, in what Padmé knew, was an effort to find some semblance of peace.
It disturbed her that Anakin was so distraught. He had never had the time to get over his mother's death, never had the inclination to follow down that path which would surely lead to more pain. So he had buried the pain of her passing deep down, refusing to confront his pain and thus preventing himself from healing. Now, it was coming back to haunt him and the thoughts of his mother were killing him. Though meditation helped, when he emerged from the trance it induced, pain waited at the precipice of his mind forcing him back into the cataleptic arms of meditation.
Padmé bit her lip. There had to be some way for her to help her husband take his mind off of the coming trials on Tatooine. She lit up as an idea struck her. Every time the Naberrie family went on a vacation, they made sure to bring games to occupy them on their journey there. It was fun, and an excellent way to reaffirm their ties to one another. Why couldn't they do that now?
Her eyes gleaming with anticipation, Padmé quickly slipped out of their room. It was time to find Obi-Wan.
#*#*#*#*#
"Padmé, wait!" Obi-Wan said desperately, trying to stop the petite Senator who was tugging him by his arm, "A Jedi does not gamble nor place wagers and we certainly don't play games with ridiculous names like, Go Fish."
"Come on, Obi-Wan!" Padmé said with a grin, dragging the resisting Jedi down the halls of Twilight's Rain, "We're going to have so much fun! We're going to turn these next two days into a vacation for all three of us!"
"But, Padmé," The Jedi Master began again. "I have meditation and training to do—"
"Training, shraining, we're supposed to be relaxing…" Padmé said, waving a hand dismissively. Finally she paused and turned to the Jedi Master. "To tell you the truth, Obi-Wan, Anakin needs this, and so do we. We've been poring over those documents for weeks and we're all exhausted and in need of some fun. Please, Obi-Wan." She looked at him pleading, her wide eyes beginning to fill up with tears.
Obi-Wan sighed in defeat. "Fine—" He began, but before he could finish, Padmé was once again pulling him along, all traces of tears gone.
"Good!" She said happily as they arrived at her suite. "You go in there with Anakin and I'll bring the cards back! This is going to be sooo much fun!"
Obi-Wan stood there stumped, knowing he'd been had. "Cards?" He said stupidly.
#*#*#*#*#
"This is all your fault, Anakin." Obi-Wan hissed as they both watched Padmé bustle happily around the room.
"How is this my fault?" The Jedi Knight whispered back heatedly, "I was meditating when you came in claiming you'd been bamboozled by my wife!"
"I was! She insisted that you needed to have some fun, and I must say that she is right!" Obi-Wan retorted. "You need more cheering up than a sad clown!
"That may be so," Anakin admitted, "But I was feeling melancholy and justly so. How was I supposed to know that Padmé would take that as a reason to hijack us?"
"You two do realize that I can hear you," Padmé called from where she was. "And since you two are being such spoilsports, I've decided to make this game really interesting." They could see her grin evilly as she continued to set the table.
Anakin and Obi-Wan groaned, deciding that it was best to shut up least she add something else to this horrid development. Who knew what diabolical plan she had cooked up now? It scared them.
"Come on guys!" Padmé said cheerfully, "Everything's all set."
The two Jedi exchanged fearful looks before sitting at the table. In front of them was a stack of cards and a glass filled with a clear brown liquid.
"What's this?" Obi-Wan said suspiciously eying the liquid.
Padmé rolled her eyes. "It's called apple juice." She said shaking her head in amusement. Then she paused as she had an idea. "You know what guys?" She said suddenly, standing up and pretending to put things away, "You don't have to play. I thought that two big, strong Jedi such as yourselves could handle a little ol' senator like me. But I see that I was wrong, you two can go back to your 'training'…" She turned away and murmured in a voice she was positive they could hear, "Although I don't see how much good that's doing."
The two Jedi's eyebrows shot up. "You know what?" Anakin said cracking his knuckles and picking up his cards. "Let's do this. Beating you will be a piece of cake."
"I don't think that it goes against the Jedi code to defend one's honor." Obi-Wan said, furiously rubbing his beard, " I'm game."
"Brilliant." Padmé said, her grin huge as she sat down. "Let's play Go Fish." She looked at them. "You do know how to play Go Fish don't you?"
Anakin shrugged nonchalantly. "I might have had some experience playing."
"We were forced to play on a mission," Obi-Wan admitted, "But we vowed never to speak of it again." He added, glaring at Anakin.
"Well, that's a good thing, then." Padmé said, with a smirk "I would feel really bad about beating you two if you were just now learning how to play."
"You talk a big game for such a little person," Anakin said grinning only to let out an exclamation when his wife kicked him under the table.
"You know what?" Padmé said thoughtfully, "Time to make this game really fun!"
"Really fun?" Anakin echoed, spreading his cards out in his hand.
"Yes," Padmé said, grinning wickedly, "How about this; we play two games until there is only one person left; the loser. Whoever the loser is has to suffer the…consequences.
"Consequences like what?" Obi-Wan said, taking a sip of his juice.
"Well, you Obi-Wan, have to cut your beard."
Juice sprayed everywhere as Obi-Wan began to cough in horrified surprised.
Roaring with laughter, Anakin leaned over to beat his master on the back.
The Jedi Master held up a finger as he tried to clear his throat. "What?" He finally managed, rubbing on his beard furiously, "You want me to cut my beard?"
"Yep." Padmé said, as Anakin continued to laugh. "And what are you laughing at, Skywalker? You have to cut your hair if you lose."
Anakin stopped laughing.
"You are a cruel woman, Padmé." He said, running a hand through his beautiful blond locks. "But what do you have to do if you lose?" His face lit up with glee as he thought of something. "You have to spend the next month with Threepio."
Anakin and Obi-Wan tried desperately to quell their laughter at the look on Padmé's face. "Fine," She muttered finally. "But in order to make things…interesting like I said I would, let's raise the stakes. Whoever loses must do these things…permanently!"
"Permanently." Anakin repeated with a scowl.
"Permanently," Padmé reaffirmed happily.
"Are you sure you're willing to risk a life in Threepio's company?" Obi-Wan inquired with a smirk. "We don't need you to be suicidal while we're looking for this cure."
"I'm not going to lose," She said smugly, "So, I'm not worried."
"You know you're playing against two Jedi, right?" Anakin said, his eyebrows arching. "I don't want your feelings to be hurt when you lose."
"You're going to hate life when we're done." Obi-Wan said confidently, "Threepio is the chattiest droid I've ever encountered."
"Okay, Skywalker, Kenobi, let's see if your game is as good as your talk." She said as she picked up her cards and spread them out. "Let's play."
#*#*#*#*#
There were few things more humiliating for the Jedi than being beat by politicians, especially little ones that barely came to their chests.
Padmé sat back in her seat smugly after she laid her last book on the table.
The look on Anakin and Obi-Wan's faces had been worth all the bad acting she had done during the game. They were so gullible it was pathetic, all she had to do was give them a false cue here and a false cue there, and they had fallen for them like a couple of felled trees. Their expressions of shock and bewilderment when she laid down her last cards made her day like nothing else.
"You know what?" She said thoughtfully, making a big show of looking around, "Everything seems amazingly quiet now. There's no gloating, no male posturing…I wonder why that is? Oh!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms up, "That's because the senator beat the big, bad Jedi!"
"You know," Obi-Wan said, glaring at her, "Gloating isn't becoming of a Senator."
Both Jedi sulked as they put their cards down. They both had the feeling that they would be hearing about this game for a while to come.
"Instead of playing another game of Go Fish to decide the winner, you should play Janken." Padmé said, smiling when she finally finished with her teasing. "It'll only take a moment and first winner walks away with their hair."
Anakin glared at his wife as he turned toward Obi-Wan. It was a good idea, but incredibly risky. Janken came down to speed, luck, and good reflexes. But he would win, he had to win; he couldn't walk around with a buzz cut, it wasn't him, it wasn't sexy.
"I can't lose this." He muttered, staring hard at his hands. "There's too much at stake."
Similar thoughts were running through Obi-Wan's head as he turned his gaze on Anakin. He couldn't give up his beard, he just couldn't.
"Let's do this, Obi-Wan." Anakin said solemnly, fisting his right hand on the open palm of his life.
"Very well," Obi-Wan said, mimicking the action.
"Ready, set, go!" Padmé bellowed.
"Rock, Paper, Scissor…shoot!" Anakin and Obi-Wan yelled. They both closed their eyes as they threw out their choice.
Padmé screamed when she saw who had won and began jumping up and down. The Jedi opened their eyes, and Obi-Wan looked on in horror. He had thrown paper, and Anakin had thrown scissors.
"NOOOOO!" Obi-Wan yelled in despair, covering his face with his hands. "Not my beard, anything but the beard!"
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin exclaimed, relief on his features, "You have to shave it and keep it shaved!" He went to his nightstand and fetched a razor. "This is a laser razor. Use it, love it." The younger man said, cheerfully, handing it to his master.
Obi-Wan glared at them. "Fine," He said, snatching the razor. "You two are horrible friends. I'm never playing any games with you guys again." He glared at them one more time before he disappeared into the fresher.
Anakin and Padmé exchanged amused glances. Several moments later, the older man came out rubbing his newly shaved jaw as though feeling its hairlessness pained him. Padmé's eyebrows shot up in amazement when she saw him. The last time she had seen Obi-Wan like this, she was fourteen and had been too wrapped up in the situation with the Trade Federation on Naboo to realize how hot Obi-Wan was.
Anakin grinned at his Master until he saw the blatant approval on Padmé's face, then his smile faded as he turned to study Obi-Wan again. He frowned, not liking what he saw.
"Looking good, Obi-Wan," Padmé said with appreciation, "Who knew there was a hot male hiding under all that hair. And you look younger too, closer to Anakin's age."
Obi-Wan rubbed his cheek as his face heated up with pleasure. He wasn't a vapid man by any means, but it was nice to be found attractive. He glanced at a nearby mirror, then at Anakin's frown and smiled. "I think I might just like this new look," He said glancing smugly at Anakin. "Maybe it was a good thing I lost."
He smiled at Padmé, who gave him a brilliant smile back. Anakin saw this and glared at his master.
"Okay, Romeo," The Knight said, "stop smiling at my wife with your youthful good looks and let's go and spar. Suddenly, I feel like kicking your pretty face all over the training room." He quickly gave Padmé a kiss before pushing Obi-Wan toward the door.
The older man rolled his eyes. "Not too much, Anakin. I can see that you're tired, but very well. Thanks for the game Padmé, you were right, it was exactly what we needed."
Both of the Jedi waved, and then they were gone.
Padmé smiled as she began to put the things away. "One thing you will soon learn, Obi-Wan," She said to the empty room, " is that I'm always right!" She began to hum as she cleaned up, content to count the day a resounding success.
End of Chapter 15: If you liked it, please review.
Chapter 16: Tatooine: The gang arrives at Tatooine.
((***If you loved this, please check out my other stories, Soul's Scars. If you love that, please review.))
A/N: I understand that all people don't play card games, but if you're more interested in the game "Go Fish", please Google; 'How to play Go Fish.'