Chapter Twelve

There were voices in the room and an ache in her head. To say she was groggy was an understatement, and it took a lot of effort to even open her eyes. When she did, her surroundings were not familiar, but one of the voices was.

Turning her head aggravated her headache, but Padmé had to see who Obi-Wan was talking to. She had to find out what happened. Was the war over?

"Hey you," she attempted to say to draw his attention, but her voice was hardly above a whisper. It didn't matter. Apparently, Jedi have excellent hearing, because he quickly excused himself and was at her side, a bright smile on his face, a gentle caress in her hair.

"Hello there." Obi-Wan bent low and placed a sweet kiss upon her lips, which were too dry to pucker correctly.

"May I have a drink?"

"Sure."

Within reach was a pottery set with the coldest, freshest water she had ever tasted.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, her voice now returning to its normal tone and volume. The pieces were beginning to fit now. She had seen Obi-Wan standing in the street, and then everything shattered.

"A couple of days," Obi-Wan answered, taking a seat on the bed of furs as well as taking her hand.

"Hello, Senator Amidala," another familiar voice spoke from the opposite side, forcing Padmé to turn her head yet again, though this time with less discomfort. Standing beside her was an elder dressed in the rich blues of Naboo physicians.

"Dr. Janus!" Padmé exclaimed, trying her best to scoot backward to sit up, although it took assistance from Obi-Wan to succeed in doing so. "Obi-Wan, Dr. Janus was my childhood physician."

"I know," Obi-Wan replied. "We contacted Queen Jamillia to request a physician be sent over since Naboo is closer to Lin-Hyt than Coruscant. You gave us quite a fright, Padmé."

"There was a small subdural hematoma in the left frontotemporal lobe, which we evacuated," the doctor explained.

"We? Who is, we?"

"Hello, Mi'Lady," Dormé stepped up to the bedside, and Padmé reached out to take the young woman's hand in hers. There were tears in her assistant's eyes. Whether they were from guilt or happiness, she couldn't be sure. Another uncertainty was how she felt about Dormé operating on her. The woman was highly trained and quite capable, but having her trample around inside her skull was another matter!

"Miss Dormé was excellent help," Dr. Janus pointed out, obviously seeing the horror Padmé had tried to hide. "I'm not sure I could've performed the procedure without her assistance."

It took a moment for his words to register in Padmé's mind. "Thank you," she said, although there were many words which needed to be exchanged between the two of them. Now that everything had calmed down, they could take the time to evaluate Dormé's recent actions.

But right now, all she wanted to do was be alone with Obi-Wan.

The two women had spent enough time together, apparently Dormé could read that very specific desire on her face.

"Come on, doc. Let's go find something to eat," the young woman suggested before ushering the older man out of the room.

She waited until they had left and glanced about the space before settling her gaze upon Obi-Wan. "Where are we, exactly?"

"Bon-Cro, the clan leader offered his private residence for your recuperation."

"That was kind of him."

"Linhytians may be stubborn," Obi-Wan explained as he studied her hand, "but they have big hearts and are exceptionally loyal."

Although Padmé had her suspicions, she had to ask. "So, is it over? Did everything get settled?"

Obi-Wan told her the story of how the clans united once the prospect of wealth had entered into the negotiations. No longer would artistic creations and lumber be their main sources of income. Lin-Hyt now had something far more valuable.

"A representative of the Galactic Mining Commission is coming to help them establish a mining colony, as well as a Republic Recovery team, to aid the rebels in rebuilding what they destroyed."

"Good." The news was better than she had hoped for actually, and yet there was something in Obi-Wan's gray-green eyes that hinted at an unspoken worry. "What is it?" Her insightful probe brought a grin to his face.

"There for a while," he answered slowly, his hand lazily drifting up and down her exposed arm, and it wasn't until that second Padmé discovered she was naked beneath the layers of fur. She didn't blush, however. Both her private physician and Dormé had seen all secrets before, and she had spent 30 days in Obi-Wan's arms, though not entirely in the nude. However, his caress was becoming quite the distraction and was doing delightful things to her body.

"I wasn't certain you were going to pull through," he admitted, his voice cracking with emotion, causing Padmé to reach up and sooth his tension with her own caress, the texture of his beard a welcome sensation to her fingertips.

"But now, perhaps you understand my hesitance," he added, the words sinking like a stone into her stomach and causing her hand to abruptly drop back to the bed.

Not this again!

"What Anakin and I encountered here is a common occurrence across the galaxy. To you and I, life is precious. To others, it seems to matter very little. And just because I'm a Jedi, doesn't mean I cannot be killed. I'm not sure this is the right time and place for this, but I simply cannot put it off any longer…"

Words of conviction raced through Padmé's mind, but nothing she hadn't said before. They had spent many hours in the past year deliberating the pros and cons of a committed relationship, and just when she thought it was all behind them….

She had a bad feeling about this.

Which was why she didn't expect the gold band he produced from his utility pouch. The one he so gently placed upon her finger.

"Padmé, I'm still not absolutely convinced you will be happy married to a Jedi, but I promise, I will do everything I can to make it so. My life may not be guaranteed, but I don't want to continue living it without you. Will you be my wife?"

For a second or two, she considered the possibility that death had claimed her after all. That she had passed on during that explosion and had entered the Afterlife. But it couldn't be. There was that nagging ache in her head, and her foot was tingly and numb from lying in the same position for so long.

This had to be real.

She stared at the simple band on her finger. It was rather plain with a single blue stone set in the center, but she had never seen anything more lovely.

Well, other than his face. Which Padmé readily took into both her hands, uttering her declaration between an assault of kisses.

"Yes! Yes! Of course, yes!"