A/N: I know, I know! I have no excuse. All I will say is that college is very time consuming! Anyway...enjoy the chapter and I promise to get the next one out as soon as possible! Thank you to those who are sticking with me! I appreciate it a lot!

P.S. I haven't yet done a disclaimer, so all this belongs to George Lucas. I'm just having fun.

GM Chapter 5:

His excitement as he raced back to his beloved outshone the brightness of the twin suns of his home planet. If the masters thought his presence had blinded the force before, this light blocked it out completely.

Night had fallen as Anakin twisted and looped his speeder between traffic lanes. He was bursting with pride over his accomplishments and could not wait to unleash the full depths of his excitement on his wife. She alone could truly make him feel like a Knight.

He expected that Padme would be waiting up for him when he arrived, the lights on their veranda acting as a beacon to him.

Instead, dread washed over him when he was close enough to make out the shape of Republica 500, the darkness exuding from the building both ominous and heavy. Trickles of warning seeped through the force, casting a heavy cloud of wariness around Anakin.

Completely overlooking the normal landing cycles, once Anakin's speeder hovered close enough to the platform, he vaulted over the door and landed lightly just behind the billowing, white curtains that blocked his view of the living room. With his senses open and attuned to every flicker of activity in the Force, Anakin crept through the vacant rooms that were all ensconced in darkness.

Eerie shadows danced along the hallways as he padded softly up the staircase that led to the master suite. Once standing outside the double doors that would open to the bedroom, Anakin withdrew his lightsaber from his belt and held it poised at the ready. The doors burst open with one nudge from the force as Anakin stepped into the room, ready to defend or attack, whichever was needed.

However, the only sight that greeted him was the form of his wife, now sitting and staring up at her husband in shock. What she failed to remember was that she had grown unseasonably warm amidst her dreaming and had removed the thin, silk camisole that she had worn to bed earlier that evening.

The chronometer now read 0200 hours, and the cold air that wafted in from the open doors of the balcony, coupled with the intense, hungry stare that had suddenly over taken her husband's features, caused her to involuntarily shiver.

Anakin stood stock still, shocked that the only danger he would be encountering in the bedroom that night would be his alluring and utterly seductive wife. Her alabaster skin shone brightly under the pale moonlight, her womanly curves beckoning him to come closer.

And come closer he did.

"Anakin?" Padme whispered, still surprised to see her husband standing over their bed in the dead of night, lightsaber in hand. She watched as his gaze lingered on her face before traveling further south. She followed his line of sight, and it was only then that she remembered her state of undress. Before she could even attempt to rectify the situation, she found herself suddenly pinned beneath her husband, his cobalt blue eyes boring into her own wide ones.

She knew there was something she needed to tell him but feeling Anakin's lips meld to her own was the greatest distraction, and for the life of her, she could no longer remember what it was that was so important. She had stayed up as late as she could, but the growing of a life inside of her was a daunting and exhausting task, and she found herself growing tired at 2000 hours. She managed to stay awake for another two but had to turn in when she could no longer hold her head up.

Padme had no problem holding her head up now, arching her back as her husband's lips moved feverishly over her supple flesh, hands gripping her hips tightly and taking great care to remove any barriers between them. Her own hands had made quick work of his utility belt, the heavy leather hitting the marble floor next to their bed with a heavy thud, and now found themselves pushing the layers of leather and rough coverings from his shoulders.

Sliding her hands from his shoulders, Padme absently noticed that the padawan braid that had hung behind his ear, and had become as much a part of him as the alloy hand that had replaced his lost one, was gone. She smiled brightly, both from the pleasure her husband was currently giving her, and from the knowledge that he had succeeded.

The hands that were tangled in his hair held tightly, forcing his head to remain where it was as he suckled her. She never wanted him to move, except that she also wanted to see his face.

Trying not to arch further into his touch, Padme attempted to speak. "Ani?" her voice came out breathless and hoarse. "Tell me what happened, Ani." Her head turned to the side, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as his teeth tugged at her.

Anakin hardly remembered the reasons behind his exultation as he worked to bring his wife to awesome heights, but her words jogged his memory slightly. He needed to tell her something. Releasing her, after tugging tightly on her flesh, he trailed kisses along the valley between before resting his chin there.

His eyes met hers, her lustful gaze spurring him on. "I did it," he smiled. "I really did it, Padme. They made me a knight!" his voice filled with wonder as he spoke, his previous excitement flooding back to him.

"That's amazing, Ani," Padme congratulated, pulling his head up to hers. She kissed him with fervor, wrapping her arms around his neck before sliding her hands across the taut muscles of his back. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her back with all the love he could give.

Sensing her goal as he felt toes gripping the waistband of his trousers, he kicked his boots off to help her along. Once they were off, his trousers followed quickly behind, Padme using her feet to slide them down his legs.

Trapping him between her thighs, Padme begged for him. He filled her slowly and reverently, watching her bask in feel of him, and he did the same. Together, they climbed higher and higher, lost in one another completely.

By the time the sun had begun to rise, they lay in a tangled heap, sated beyond comprehension and exhausted beyond belief.

One of the perks of Jedi stamina, Padme thought to herself, as she trailed kisses along his neck.

"I am so proud of you, Ani," she told him. "I always knew you were meant for greatness."

He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye, pulling her closer to him. He could never get close enough. "I don't care about greatness. I just want the galaxy to be at peace. Especially now," he shook his head. "I don't want our child growing up during a war."

"Neither do I. But the Republic is falling apart right in front of our eyes. I just don't know how to stop it," she replied. It was true. Each day in the senate felt like another battle lost. It did not matter that she held no weapon in her hand, she fought just as hard as her husband did; her voice was her weapon.

But her voice was being drowned out by the cries of systems that were falling under Separatist firepower. They were out for blood, and she understood their reasoning, for at one time, as a young queen whose planet was under siege, she also wanted the blood of those who dared to kill a citizen of her home world.

However, her wisdom had grown over the years, and she had learned that fighting fire with fire only led to more burning, but most of the senators from those systems did not have her years of knowledge. They were lost in the destruction that was taking place in the moment, and in return, they wanted to destroy as well.

As one who was, and still is, staunchly against the Military Creation Act, Padme cringes and cracks a little more each time the Chancellor is voted more emergency powers. After watching Palpatine take more and more control over the Republic for the past two years, the more she has come to realize that a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum was the worst thing she could have ever called for. At least Valorum had believed in upholding the principles of the Republic.

Palpatine was heading further toward dictatorship every day.

It was like watching a starship come hurtling towards the surface. No engines, no brakes, and no control. The only thing left to do was stand there and watch it crash and burn.

The republic was crashing quickly, and soon it would be engulfed in flames.

"Once we capture Grievous and Dooku, the war will end and we can begin to rebuild," his voice was full of assurances, free from worries of impending doom for the Republic.

Padme sat up to look at her husband directly. Anakin followed, sliding his back up to rest against the headboard. "How can you be so sure?" she asked. "I don't believe that Dooku and Grievous are the true leaders behind all this. Especially Grievous!" she continued, her voice rising in volume. "He's just a pawn. And didn't you tell me that there are always two Sith Lords? There has to be someone else out there."

"I agree with you, but we've been looking for the other Sith for two years, since the very beginning of this war on Geonosis, and still we are no closer. The Sith are elusive, and this one is proving to be the most elusive of all." Anakin's frustration seeped into the tone of his voice. The fact that he had spent two years away from his home with Padme hunting Dooku and Grievous, with no results, left him feeling angry and exhausted. "Maybe I should speak with the Chancellor today. Perhaps he has gained some insight to whereabouts of the two," he sighed, weary from the thought alone.

"No, Anakin!" Padme said forcefully, her tiny hands wrapping around his bicep, almost as if to hold him back. "I don't think we should trust him anymore. He's trying to take control of the senate. We have no voice there."

The fervor with which she spoke surprised Anakin. The chancellor had always been one of his closest confidantes; he was a friend and a mentor. But Padme rarely, if ever, exaggerated about such things, and if she was having doubts about Palpatine, a man whom she had supported for years and whom shared her home planet, then perhaps he should heed her warning.

"Alright, I won't speak with him," he said, worried at the panic he saw in her eyes. Had the chancellor said something to her to make her fear him? No, dictator wannabe or not, Palpatine was a professional. "But you know, I will have to talk to him eventually. He is kind of the commander in chief," he added, trying to lighten the mood with a smile.

Padme nodded in acquiescence, but still worried nonetheless.

Anakin grasped her face in his hands and leaned forward, kissing her lips lightly. He pulled away slowly, trying to reassure her that he was there. "I should go. I have a meeting with the 501st this afternoon, and I need to collect the latest intelligence to debrief them with," he said, turning to slide off the bed. He didn't want to leave his wife, but until their marriage could be public, he had to do his duty first.

And just like that, as Anakin was standing in front of their closet and sliding his black trousers over his waist, the light bulb flickered, and Padme remembered the reason that she had tried so hard to stay up the night before.

"Ani, wait!" she shouted, though she realized that might have been unnecessary. Anakin was still buttoning his trousers and had not even reached for a tunic yet.

Anakin spun around at his wife's insistence, surprised to see her poised on her hand and knees at the edge of the bed, her other hand stretching towards him. "What?" he questioned, on high alert, and desperately trying to ignore the fact the Padme was once again indecent before him.

The breeze from the balcony alerted her to her nakedness, and she scrambled for the sheet, wrapping it around herself tightly, before either of them could get excited again. She couldn't afford the distraction.

"Something happened yesterday," she stated, walking towards her husband and grasping his hands in her own. He held them up and twined their fingers together, pulling her into his chest in response.

Anakin's mind immediately flashed back to night before, when he had sensed a warning in the force, and his overactive imagination then jumped to all the wrong conclusions. Padme's safety, and that of their unborn child's, came first and foremost in his mind, and he had to reassure himself that they were safe and in his arms.

"What is it? What happened?" he pleaded, his voice laced with worry as he nuzzled his cheek in her hair. "Are you alright? The baby?" he couldn't withhold the creeping panic as he reminded himself that Padme was still breathing right in front of him.

"I am fine. We're fine," she said, burying her face in his warm chest. "It's nothing to do with me."

"Then what is it?"

Padme braced herself for the onslaught of emotions that were sure to come spewing from within her husband as soon as she told him. She just couldn't be sure exactly which emotions would spring forth. "I received a comm call yesterday morning, right before I was about to leave for the senate. It was Owen."

Anakin's brow furrowed in confusion as he pulled back to look Padme in the face. "Owen? My step-brother Owen?"

Padme nodded in response.

"Why would he call? Unless something has happened?"

Padme's silence was all the answer he needed.

"Why didn't you tell me last night?" he questioned, worried about what could be happening on Tatooine.

"I tried to stay up to tell you, but I was just exhausted. And then you distracted me when I woke up. It just slipped away. I've heard horror stories about pregnant women and their scattered brains, but I thought it was too early for that. Apparently I was wrong," she pleaded with him to understand that she hadn't meant to keep anything from him.

"I'm not mad at you," he tried to assure her. "I'm just worried about what could be happening there."

Padme sighed, knowing she had to be the one to tell him. "Something did happen, Ani. I'm not quite sure I even understand it, but I think I should be the one to tell you, and then we can go call Owen back."

"Padme, you're scaring me. Just tell me what happened," he tried to placate her, for she was clearly uneasy.

Internally, Padme's worry had escalated to full blown panic. Could she and her husband not have just one day of peace? She worried that this incident would have a major effect on him. He had already come perilously close to the dark side on Tatooine, and she feared this would only drive him further into its clutches.

Still, she straightened her shoulders and spoke. "Your mother is alive, Anakin. At least, according to Owen she is."

No one in the Lars household knew exactly what they would do once Shmi awakened, and each family member grew wearier as the hours passed and still there was no call from Anakin. Almost twenty-four hours had passed, and they were running out of the sedative used to keep Shmi asleep.

Beru, who had been trained as a midwife, knew that the consequences of repeatedly sedating Shmi could be detrimental, both physically and mentally, and was secretly glad that they were running out. Her mother-in-law clearly had enough mental issues to contend with already. The overuse of a drug did not need to be added to the list. Beru knew that her husband, however, who paced in front of the small comm in their hovel, felt much differently than she.

Owen, though he would never admit it, feared the consequences of his step-mother waking and not finding Anakin there even more. He also, internally, burned with jealousy over his step-brother: The Hero with No Fear A.K.A the hero that doesn't care enough to call his own family back, Owen thought bitterly. He couldn't understand how Shmi could only want Anakin, when he, Owen, had been her son in every way that counts for far longer.

Never mind that Shmi was clearly sick, he felt betrayed, both for himself and his father. His father, who worried for his wife but worried for himself as well, had not once left Shmi's bedside.

Cliegg sat rapt with attention, vigilant as her guard, as he held his love's hand and prayed to whatever higher power was out there that she would be his once again. It was, as he lay with his head next to hers, that he heard the tell-tale beeping of their comm system.

Anakin was finally returning their call.

After kissing Shmi's forehead and laying her hand to rest, Cliegg stood and briskly made his way to where their comm system sat. He was utterly surprised to hear heated shouting coming forth from the room, his son seething at Anakin.

Without a second thought, Cliegg interrupted. "Owen! What are you doing, son? Calm yourself," he reprimanded, forcing his son back. He glanced at the small screen sitting on the desktop, only to be met with his step-son's angry gaze, blazing fury written across his features. "Anakin? Did Owen tell you what has happened?"

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest as he took in Cliegg's question, seriously doubting the credibility of his step-brother's story. Shock had been the first thing to cross his mind when Padme had told him what was wrong, followed quickly by disbelief. Anakin's doubt and refusal to come to Tatooine angered Owen beyond reason, hence the shouting match that ensued.

He had firsthand felt his mother's life-force slip away as he held her in his arms. Clearly, this woman who had appeared on the Lars' doorstep was an imposter, yet he was failing to make Owen see. "Yes, Owen told me what happened, but you need to embrace the idea that this woman is not who she says she is. My mother died in my arms, of that I am certain,"

Cliegg, ignoring his sense hasty retreat, understood the boy's apprehension, nonetheless, they needed Anakin. "I know that you have your doubts, son. I even have mine, but the fact is that this woman, whoever she may be, won't settle until she sees you. You need to get here, Anakin."

Anakin shook his head. "I just became a full-fledged Knight. I don't have time to go gallivanting across the galaxy, all for an imposter. I'm sorry," he said, ignoring the tiny burst of hope that was steadily growing in his chest. If he went he would only be disappointed by the outcome, and he was tired of being disappointed.

Cliegg sighed at Anakin's answer. "I'm sorry you feel that way, son, but I still think you should come and see this woman for yourself. I don't know how, but I think that woman is my wife, your mother, and you are going to regret not coming to see her when you had the chance, especially if she is damaged further."

The beeping of Anakin's comlink interrupted Cliegg's words. "I am sorry, but I need to go. I will contact you later," he left no room for discussion and promptly cut off the transmission.

Anakin leaned back in his chair, feeling Padme's arms wrap around him from behind. "You know you want to go," she told him, sensing the confusion within the man in front of her. "She's your mother."

"No. She isn't," he stated, abruptly standing from his chair and turning to face her. "My mother is dead. We all saw her. I saw her," his voice grew quiet as he spoke, his head dropping to his chest in despair, memories that he had tried so hard to bury surfacing quicker than he ever dreamed they could.

"Even so, whatever this is, you are obviously being targeted. For what, I don't know, but I think you should try to find out," Padme said, taking Anakin's face in her hands

"You want me to go? And leave you here? Not a chance," he replied angrily.

She shook her head no. "Who said anything about me staying here? I wouldn't let you do this alone."

"What about the baby? I can't ask you to follow me to a filthy, desert planet…"

"You're not," Padme interrupted. "I am telling you I'm going with you. I've reached the second trimester, so the baby will be fine," She said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. "Trust me," she added.

Anakin sighed. There was no arguing with his wife once she made up her mind. If the senator face was brought out, he was in a world of trouble. "I will think about it. But I really do have to go. Rex is waiting for me. I will be back tonight," he said, heading for the veranda. "I love you," he told her.

"I love you too." Padme watched him go with a sense of sadness. She knew her husband better than anyone.

He didn't want to go to Tatooine because he didn't want to hope, and she knew that. However, she also knew that by this time the next day, they would be en route to his dusty home world.

Padme only feared the anger that would be unleashed if this turns out to be a ruse. She felt his emotions as her own, and when he was hurting, she hurt. Right now, Anakin was dying inside, blaming himself for the death of his mother.

He was also questioning himself. The only reason he had slaughtered the Tuskens was because they killed his mother. If she was alive, then Anakin's brief dabble with the dark side would have been for naught.

Padme feared the guilt would eat him alive.

Owen always knew that his step-brother was selfish, but this was a whole new level, even for him.

He stood out in the wind, staring at his step-mother's grave, wondering what he would find if he were to dig it up.

The only answer he could come up with was not reassuring one, but he would get to the bottom of this puzzle, alone if he had to. Heading to the garage and grabbing the nearest shovel, Owen spent the next few hours soaking the ground and digging up the dirt.

Sweat dripped down his brow as the suns crept higher in the sky, still, he kept digging, foregoing a break to get a drink. The further down he dug, the more his desperation grew.

When the whole was as deep as he was tall, Owen's worst suspicions were confirmed.

His step-mother's body, or at least what he thought was her body, was gone.