It is March, already pleasantly warm. Padmé is sitting on the comfortable couch in the large living room of her large home in Los Angeles, looking through the Gals front, seeing the entire yard where her children are playing, her son Aaron and daughter Emily. She wondered how the time goes by, they have grown up, Aaron is already twelve and Emily is six. Like it was all yesterday, when they were babies. Her children...hers, or also of the man she had married?

He had cheated on her...with a younger woman, a twenty-five year old. He could be her father, ugh. Had she grown old, was she no longer so attractive to him? Or are all men like that? Or is that just his midlife crisis? Don't make excuses for his infidelity, she thought. She should have seen this coming. He cheated on his girlfriend when he was dating her.

Anakin had cheated on her too, all the time and over and over again. Men.

Does this happen just to her, or to every woman...more or less. Should she forgive the husband?...give him a second chance...to do it again? Once cheater, always cheater. What a dirty divorce is she in for...and the kids...and the tabloid press? They do their job well, the dirtier the better.

Yes, the marriage has been in trouble for a long time, it has nothing to do with the current infidelity, it's just the last straw that breaks the camel's back. She had always pulled herself together, looked over a lot, ironed out the issues ... children. Living in a stable environment is important to their mental health, but unhappy parents who persevere in a marriage where the one cheats and the other tries to tolerate it, is not in the best interest of the children. Divorce is always better. Good co-parents are better than parents who are always fighting.

She didn't know what to do, she wanted to try to save what could be saved. What? Just because of children...or did she love him? No ! It was just the shame of a betrayed woman, her injured pride... she was a super star, beautiful, a woman every man dreams of. Anakin. What did he say when they saw each other last time? I'm not giving up on us...he had given up on her, even the first time he cheated on her...or had she given up on him? Is it her destiny to be betrayed? Can you ever forgive something like that? Should you forgive something like that? Anakin. Why is she thinking of him? He had cheated on her too…. but that had felt different. It wasn't hurt pride, it hurt because she loved him...still loves? It doesn't matter anymore, she'll never get back together with Anakin. He has his messed up life and she has hers.

The kids have to go out to park... and demonstrate something that doesn't exist. He should come too.

"Brent, we're taking the kids to the park."

"Is that necessary?"

"Yes, it is."

He reluctantly went along. If the kids would notice, maybe...Aaron maybe, he's already twelve.

They sat down on a bench, not exactly close together.

They have already noticed, the vultures. Behind each tree stood one paparazzi or two. On the same day the photos were everywhere, the internet was overload. She looked awful in every photo, like she was crying...and she was crying, inside, what was to see on her face. And what did the husband do? He was sitting there on the bench looking at his iPhone the whole time.

Anakin also saw these images flooding the internet. They hadn't been together for a long time, but it hurt him to see her like this...he loved her, still. In fact, he only loved her, always …only… her.

Should he call her now, comfort her? Will she think he's calling just to tell her he was right about her husband's infidelity? No, better not…but it hurt his heart. His mind told him after so many years he should realize that he lost her, forever. They'll never get back together, no matter what his lifelong wish was...and what do they want together now? You were already forty-two, the half of the life was over, or more, you never know. Each of them had something like family life behind, other partners, children of their own...but love is love. His heart belonged always her and he knew he had hers.

Anakin remembered the 2005 Film Festival in Cannes and these beautiful photos of of them went around the world. Everyone could clearly see how great their love was...and after that he screwed everything up. If he hadn't made that mistake...where would you be today? Past is the past and you can't change it.

Now, in 2023, she was also in Cannes to represent her film January to May, but she was alone. She was wearing a beautiful dress, she looked beautiful in his eyes...but she was thin and the sadness squeezed her face. She didn't even smile and when she had to show her face for the cameras, she put on her mask and laughed, showing her perfect teeth. She was an actress, she was good at that.

A few days later, she appeared with her husband at Bontee's concert and played happy wife for paparazzi, trying to save what could not be saved.

She's in France now, he thought, and he's in L.A., his daughter is still in school. When she's on vacation he'll take her to Canada, but her mother Riley always comes with. She is afraid he would kidnap her daughter to Canada. What nonsense, or does she just want to be with him...but there's nothing left, it never worked...and now that she's released all that shit on her podcast, no, thank you. Unthinkable.

*Hello Anakin.*

*Padme? How... how are you?*

*Shit ! He betrayed me.* she cried.

*I know...Internet is full of it.*

*Can I talk to you?*

*Sure, always. Where do we meet?*

*I come to you.*

*…and the paparazzi ?*

*I'll find a way. See you soon.*

*OK. *

She called her housekeeper. "Consuela, you have to take me to this address...with your car." And gave her the iPhone with the address entered.

They went into the garage together, Padmé got in the trunk and Consuela drove off. She stopped in front of Anakin's house, then parked in the driveway. The garage door rose and when she was in the garage the door lowered again. There was his Audi R8, Range Rover, Ferrari and another black Lexus and two parking lots were free.

Padmé got out of the trunk and told Consuela to wait she goes in and she'll be free. As she walked in and Consuela was gone, she ran into and met his family in the hallway. It just so happened.

"It wasn't planned that way." He said, his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

...and now she saw the rival, or whatever she was; small, lean, nothing special, but snappy.

Riley gave Padmé a disparaging look from head to toe. "So, this is the woman the whole internet is buzzing about, the woman you were thinking about Anakin, when you fucked me... well, Mrs. Naberrie, what goes around, comes around, so is the saying, isn't it."

"Riley please, not in front of the child!" He kissed the daughter on the head.

"It's okay, she already knows that her father took every opportunity...we're going sweetie. Have fun with…whatever." She took her daughter's hand and left.

"Come on Padmé, let's go this way." He pointed the way to the living area.

"Lead ahead."

The room was large and bright, with plenty of sunlight entering the room through the glass wall facing west. The sun hadn't set yet, but the sky was slowly losing its intense blue color, getting paler and paler, especially on the horizon where those orange streaks will be built soon, form behind which the sun will disappear.

"Come on, sit down..." he collapsed onto the couch.

Padmé stopped first and then sat down very close to him. The tears were already running. "He cheated on me, Anakin...with a twenty-five year old girl. Look at me, am I already that old and ugly?"

"You are the most beautiful woman in the universe...to me. I don't know how he sees you, the way he thinks, but if you forgive him, he will do it again."

"I have to do it...for kids."

"You don't have to. Watch how Riley and I do it. We are co-parents and Cindarella is fine, she has both of us."

"If we part, I could never meet him again."

Anakin was afraid to ask, yet he wanted to know. "Do you love him?"

"No...I'm...hurt, but the kids..."

"You don't love him, he'll carry on cheating and the kids will suffer. Definitely a no-win situation, Padmé."

He dropped onto the pillows behind him and was in a semi-recumbent position. "Come on, put your head here on my chest...like before, you'll be better."

She put her arm around his waist and rested her head in the crook of his neck. "I don't want it to be like it used to be, none of that. You cheated on me just like he did...over and over again and it was a lot worse, because I loved you."

"But unlike him, I've loved you...I've always loved you, I've never stopped loving you, you know that and it is the reason why you're here. Only with me can you find comfort, my love is sincere."

"That's not what is about, Anakin. I've always appreciated your love, that's why I was able to forgive you so many times...so many times, I only want to forgive him once."

"It won't stay at that."

"..and you know that from your own experience?"

"I loved you despite everything."

"You obviously could never understand that love isn't enough. You lack loyalty...you just can't keep your pants closed. You also repeatedly cheated on the woman you spent the best ten years of your life with."

"It was different with us, you weren't there...and I was young and hungry for...what do I know, you know, the machinery of Hollywood can build you up into something and dispose of you very quickly. So I was trying to really enjoy this time in my life... and milk it for all it`s worth."

"Oh yeah you enjoyed it…without me….and then you met her. Was she that good in bed?"

"Tell me Padmé, are we here to clear up our problems from the past, the happenings we can not change?"

"No."

"You probably heard what she said on her podcast from the media."

"No, what?"

"She shared how she never had an orgasm until she was thirty-eight. We break up as we were thirty-six."

"Uh, and is that right?"

He answered her question only indirectly. "You can imagine how a man feels when he can't sexually satisfy a woman...like a failure. I kept looking for confirmation that I could do it."

"Your ego, what?"

"With you my ego was in the right place."

"...and you still looked elsewhere for confirmation."

"No. I needed sex and you weren't there...we broke up so many times it just couldn't work...I always missed you so, I still miss you Padmé."

"I know. We've always been soul mates." She straddled his lap and collapsed onto his chest.

They were alone and no one could hear them, but he whispered in her ear, "Do you want me, my love?"

"I love you...and I want you…as always"

It wasn't long before they were undressed and able to give their bodies to each other, as well as their souls that were never actually separate, that always belonged together.

"We're not twenty-four like last time, but love was just as beautiful."

"Maybe even better. It is our mature love…."

"Stay with me...I'm free and you could be too."

"I have kids, I have to go back and...I'm sure, you would cheat on me again."

"Don't do it Padme. Here, in paradise or hell, we belong together."

"Yes, one day we will be united... in paradise or in the hell where you will have no body to betray me, Anakin." She dressed and stood up.

"I love you Padmé." He said softly.

"I heard that." She said without turning around and walked to the door, while a tear found its way down her face :´-(

…

Best regards from Germany