It All Started With A Road Trip

by Charlie Hayden

Anakin Skywalker and Padme Naberrie were childhood best friends. That is until a fight in senior year of high school destroyed their friendship. A meeting in an LA bar sets off a reconciliation when Padme needs a ride across the country, little do they know that this road trip home will set off more than just a reconciliation. Modern-AU

5. Return to Normal With a Twist

Authors Note: So sorry that it took me three months to get this chapter out. I wanted to finish it by Halloween, but unfortunately this chapter didn't want to cooperate, then came November and I had hoped to maybe have it out before my birthday, but that didn't pan out. Yay to turning thirty-eight when I still feel like I'm twenty-something, at least mentally, sigh. Finally I was able to meet a firm deadline. So, Happy Holidays and enjoy this gift!

To be fair as to why it took so long to get this chapter out, it came out to 64 pages worth of 15925 words in my Gdoc's document. I can't seem to stop writing the long chapters.

---

Chapter 5:Return to Normal, With a Twist.

Very little ever changes through the years inside Padme's childhood bedroom. Padme often finds comfort in the consistency. The most drastic change was the makeover her mother insisted on for her bedroom when she was thirteen. Gone was the fairytale decor, the old daybed and hand-me-down furniture. Replacing the comforts of childhood was a new full size sleigh bed and matching dressers, nightstand and desk. Padme was insistent on the bookshelves from Ikea and stuffed the shelves to the breaking point with her books, decorating the shelves with fake vines and nicknacks. The entire room is fit for an adolescent girl, going through subtle changes as she got older.

Padme's favorite spot, however, is the old papasan chair she stole from Sola's exodus following her wedding. As she often could be found, Padme curled up in that papasan chair in her bedroom corner, reading her favorite book when she hears a familiar tapping at her window. Thinking nothing of it, Padme lazily unfurls from her favorite spot and pads over to the window, passing by the mirror over her dresser. Pausing, Padme caught a glimpse of herself, unruly curls framed a youthful face that somehow feels foreign somehow. The tapping continues, pulling her out of her daze.

Reaching her bedroom window, Padme pulls aside the sheer curtains decked out with fairy lights and fake vinery and opens her window. Stepping back, she takes in the familiar sight of short, ruffled blond hair and mischievous blue eyes as Anakin climbs through from the tree outside her window. He drops a tin from his hands and a branch snaps against the side of the house, making the two pause.

"Shit," Anakin curses.

"Not so loud, idiot!" Padme hisses, pulling her friend inside and checking the outside before quietly closing her window. Turning around to face her best friend, she is met with a sheepish grin. This is the Anakin that she grew up with, the one that was most familiar. Tall, lanky, and wearing his normally baggy jeans, graphic t-shirt/hoodie combo and converse sneakers. So why does she feel so unfamiliar with her best friend standing next to her?

Anakin offers her the tin he dropped on his way in. "Aunt Jira made fudge," he informs her.

Jira Skywalker's fudge is legendary and the recipe is a tightly kept secret. Eagerly, Padme takes the offered tin and sits down on her bed, feet tucked under her. "Thank you," she gushes, holding the tin in her lap.

Anakin follows her lead and sits down next to her. "I got my ACT scores today," he says, fiddling with the edge of his sleeve. "Thirty-three," he softly announces, looking up to meet her gaze.

"Ani, that's amazing!" Padme praises, throwing her arms around him. "I knew that you could do it," she reminds him, her voice muffled in the crook of his shoulder.

"Mom and Aunt Jira were celebrating, I think they were still calling everyone that they know to gush," Anakin chuckles, embarrassed by the praise, ducking his head shyly. "What about you? How'd you do?" he asks.

Padme pulls away and traces the edges of the tin, looking down. "Twenty-eight," she informs him softly.

"Still a good score," Anakin reminds her. "Congratulations!"

"My dad wants me to retake the ACT's. He's convinced that I can do better," she says quietly.

"It couldn't hurt…"

"Says the one who got a near perfect score. You can get in anywhere, you know," Padme retorts.

"Sure, once I figure out tuition. Not everyone grew up with a college fund," Anakin points out.

"You'll figure it out, you always do," Padme encourages him.

"I couldn't have done it without you, you know," he remindes her.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Padme says softly. Biting her lip, she pulls open the tin and plucks out a piece of fudge. Taking a bite, she moans in appreciation. "Oh my god, I love you,"she groans, closing her eyes in ecstasy.

Anakin swivels his head around to look at her so sharply that his neck gives an audible crack, staring at her with wide eyes. "You do?" he asks, his voice cracking in a way that it hadn't since they were in middle school.

Padme opens her eyes to meet Anakin's. She expects to see a guarded look in his eyes, not this open vulnerability that weirdly feels misplaced. Anakin stares at her in nervous anticipation, his adams apple bobs and he bites his lip. When was the last time he had been so transparent with his emotions? Padme is confused by this dichotomy. Why is she expecting him to be so closed off? Anakin never holds back what he is thinking or feeling, so why is she so surprised by the look in his eyes?

"Ani…" Padme whispered.

In an instant he leans forward, his hand reaching to cup the back of her head as he kisses her. It feels like the most natural thing in the world and Padme feels no hesitation in responding to the kiss, parting her lips in order to deepen the kiss. Padme closes her eyes and wonders at the warm, familiarity in the kiss. Anakin had never once kissed her before, so where does this feeling of deja vu come from? Why does this kiss feel like one of many?

Padme dismisses the confusing thoughts and just gives into the moment. A newfound, yet oddly familiar, sense of euphoria comes over her the moment that she feels his tongue slip past her parted lips. She feels as though she is floating, her mind becoming foggy as she gives into the endorphins rushing through her system. The next thing she knows, Padme is laying on her back, not caring for the how or why of it. All she could focus on is the kiss, on just how right everything feels, how familiar and yet new it is. She never wants this to end. Wanting to feel him closer, Padme wraps her arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer, feeling secure, with his body pressing atop of hers, cherishing in the feel of skin on skin, he was so warm.

Within the fog, Padme wonders when they had stripped naked. Yet again, she dismisses the confusion and just feels, choosing to just give into the feelings. Unconsciously, she parts her legs, hooking one over his hip, both to anchor him into place and to pull him closer. Padme gasps when she feels him slip inside of her with a slow and gentle thrust. Padme expects to feel some level of discomfort, as was expected with one's first time, instead, all she feels is the pleasure of feeling as close as possible to the one person she is closest to.

"You okay?" Anakin asks softly.

"I've never felt better," she tells him and she means it. Padme never feels better than when she is being held in his arms. No matter what they would go through, the moment he would hold her, she would instantly feel better. "Ani," she says, softly, "Don't leave me," she begs, unsure where this sudden vulnerability is coming from. Why does she suddenly feel as though one wrong move, one wrong word, that Anakin would slip away and vanish from her life?

Confusion clouds his eyes as he stares down at her. "I would never," he vows and she believes him.

"I need you," she tells him, feeling the statement with every inch of her being.

Anakin doesn't say anything in response, but he didn't have to, instead his actions speaks for him. Leaning down, he kisses her again and begins to move within her. At first it is slow and gentle, but impatience soon sets in, for both of them. The two of them falling into a fevered state, as if they both realize that soon they would run out of time. The slow, gentle, yet inexperienced lovemaking morphes into wild, passionate fucking. The latter feels the most familiar for reasons that she can't explain. However, Padme feels a rush of panic as the sound of a fist banging on her bedroom door joins the sounds of the headboard knocking against the wall, drowning out their loud moans. Suddenly, the sense of impending doom overwhelms her.

Padme's eyes snapped open as she let out a gasp. Feeling flushed and breathing deeply, reality slowly began to set in as she sat up in bed. The morning sun illuminated her room from her open window. It was just a dream, yet it felt so real.

"Padme, dear, are you up?" her mother's voice filtered in from the other side of her door, when she had been knocking.

"Just getting up now," Padme called back.

"Well, breakfast is ready. I made your favorites," her mother informed her.

Padme waited for the sounds of her mother's footsteps to fade away before falling back against her pillows, breathing deeply. Her dream remained as clear as ever. Rubbing her thighs together, Padme gazed forlornly at her bedroom window, wishing that the dream had been real. Letting out a groan, Padme pushed herself out of bed to get ready for the day.

When she finally made it down to the dining room, her parents were already seated. Padme kissed her father's cheek as she passed him to take her seat. She loved sharing a meal with her parents, especially since they so rarely did it anymore. For years, she hadn't been able to come home without feeling a deep set melancholy. It had become a habit to avoid coming home for anything more than necessary. As they talked over breakfast, Padme silently vowed to make this a more common experience.

Once breakfast was over, Padme hugged her mom, basking in the tight embrace, promising to come over more. Then she left the house with her father, who had already taken her suitcase to the car.

On the drive to her apartment, her father asked her about her trip. He was very pleased that her boss had trusted her with this business trip. "It's a sign of trust," Ruwee had said. "If they are suddenly giving you new responsibilities, a promotion is most likely in consideration."

"I don't know about that," Padme deflected. "I think it was more of a matter of logistics. I was the only one available to take over at the last minute."

"Nonsense," Ruwee chided warmly. "I've told you many times before, if you work for it, you can achieve anything. Besides, you're a Naberrie and …"

"All Naberries who graduate from Notre Dame are destined to succeed," Padme echoed as her father repeated his most famous line to his daughters.

Padme had lost count of how often her father would repeat this mantra at a young age. He had a habit of reminding her of this on repeat while she was in high school, reminding her of every single member of their family who had found success after attending Notre Dame University. It used to smother her, as the pressure to live up to family name and history mounted on her shoulders. The pressure didn't let up thousands of miles away as she attended the university that was her family's alma mater, if anything, it only seemed to increase as the fear of letting everyone down set in.

Padme listened as her father gave her professional advice as well as speculated about the possibility of her receiving a promotion. She gave the occasional, appropriate replies, while her mind drifted.

Once her father pulled up to her apartment building, he leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I am so proud of you, sweetheart. I love you," he told her.

Padme smiled. "I love you too, Daddy," she said, as she got out of the car, retrieved her suitcase. She waved as her father drove off. Letting out a shaky breath before she hurriedly made it into her apartment to deposit her suitcase and to grab her car keys before hurrying into work. She missed Anakin and wished she could go back a week. No, not a week, ten years.

---

The first thing Anakin had done once he got home was drop his duffle down on the couch. The second thing he did was take the stairs two two at a time and strip his way into his bedroom, falling into bed completely nude. He fell asleep for a few hours before getting up up topee. Popping some medicine for his back, he let himself get comfortable in his very expensive bed, pulling his work laptop out to work on some coding for another hour until his phone pinged. Receiving a message from Rex, checking in on him, Anakin assured his friend that he was home in one piece. Anakin had no doubt that Rex would pass it along with the rest of their squadron. That was until the video file that Rex sent him distracted him the rest of the night. His coding forgotten, Anakin forwarded the video to Padme, amused by the light teasing from her end. Anakin fell back asleep to the video of his and Padme's karaoke duet.

The next morning, Anakin woke up, threw on a pair of joggers and a tank to go for a morning run. Coming back in, he turned on the keurig before heading up for a shower. Dressed for the day, Anakin prepared a quick hearty breakfast, a cup of coffee and sat down at his kitchen table, with his laptop to get through the zoom meetings he had set up. Those took up his entire morning.

At around eleven, Anakin pulled into Watto's Auto, skipping the front lot and going straight to the back. Music blared from a nearby stereo system and Anakin thought he could recognize Billie Eilish but he couldn't be certain. As he exited his car, he looked around. One of the Martez sisters was bent over the hood of another car- a Toyota by the looks of it- in the shop, tools in hand. He couldn't tell if it was Trace or Rafa, with her face obscured by the engine she worked on.

"I knew that I heard Bullitt."

Anakin turned around at the sound of the voice. "Rafaela," he said, noting the older Martez sister sneaking up on him.

Rafa made a face at his use of her given name. "Ahsoka's up front dealing with customers," she informed him.

Anakin winced, knowing how well his sister handled idiot misogynists who didn't think women could change a tire let alone work on an engine, or the karens that thought they were above service workers. Granted not every customer was a problem, but he had heard enough of his sister's ranting to make a guess. He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of his car. "Business looks good," he commented.

Rafa scoffed. "Tell that to old man Watto," she grumbled with an eye roll as she kept an appreciative eye on his car. "Sure a test drive isn't necessary?" she offered.

"No one drives my car but me," Anakin reminded her firmly.

"Awe, Bullitt, you're no fun," Rafa pouted. She turned her appreciative gaze on him instead. "You know, you are way too wound up, I bet I can help loosen you up…"

Anakin rolled his eyes. Even if he was remotely interested, his sister's friends were strictly off limits. "Even if I were in need of… loosening up , I'm not crazy enough to take you up on it, Rafaela," he turned her down patiently.

Rafa shrugged. "Your loss, Bullitt," she dismissed, eyeing something over his shoulder.

Anakin turned in time to see Ahsoka lean in next to him and throw her arm around his shoulder. "Snips," he greeted.

Rafa huffed. "He called me Rafaela," she cooly informed Ahsoka as she slinked off.

Ahsoka winced. "You know how she hates it when you do that," she reminded him.

"Why do you think I do it?" he asked rhetorically.

Ahsoka shook her head as she circled around to pop the hood of his car. "So what damage did you do this time?" she asked.

"My car is fine, you know," Anakin reminded her. Ahsoka always insisted on checking his car over after he returns from one of his trips and even though he would know if something was off, he humored her anyway.

"Let me be the judge of that," Ahsoka insisted.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Snips," he said.

"When Obi-Wan told me that she had coerced you into giving her a ride back, I was so pissed," Ahsoka informed him.

Anakin sighed, pushing away from the side of his car and approached the hood. "It wasn't as bad as you think. It was actually pretty fun, all things considering," he informed her. He would not be telling his sister just how fun it had been.

Ahsoka scoffed. "As if," she dismissed.

"Ahsoka," Anakin began but was distracted by his phone buzzing. Checking it, he was pleased by the quick message from Padme. With a quick snort, he read the message before typing a response back.

"Ugg, you have that face again!" Ahsoka complained, in a disgusted voice.

"What face?" Anakin asked, sliding his phone back in his pocket.

"The ' I simp for Padme ' face," Ahsoka mocked him. "I thought you were over your Padme chasing phase when she betrayed you…"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Snips," Anakin pointedly informed her.

"I remember that downward spiral you took when she showed her true colors, I don't need to know anything else," Ahsoka told him pointedly.

"Padme isn't the reason for my issues and you know it," Anakin pointedly reminded her, crossing his arms.

"All I know is that you were angry and depressed and suddenly she decides to abandon you and the next thing any of us know, you're running away to the military without even talking to anyone first. Now that you're finally in a good place and yourself again, here she comes to sink her claws back into you. Excuse me for not jumping for joy that Cruella is back," Ahsoka told him irritably.

"You're right, I wasn't in a good place back then. But that wasn't Padme's fault and I didn't run away to the military," Anakin countered. "You don't know what happened, Ahsoka, I do. If I want to be friends with Padme again, that's my choice and you have no say in it," he pressed.

Ahsoka closed the hood with a huff. "Fine, you want to invite toxicity into your life, don't come to me for sympathy when it destroys you again," she said tartly.

"Oh, you want to talk about toxic behavior?" Anakin glowered, leaning a hand on the car to glare at his sister. "How about we talk about your latest chaotic stunts, shall we? Don't even bother feigning innocence, Obi-Wan already filled me in," he growled.

Ahsoka crossed her arms and met his glare head on. "You can't do anything to me. Not if you want to remain the best man," she scoffed.

"I did promise not to kill you until Obi-Wan and Satine are on their honeymoon," Anakin agreed, deliberate in his word choice.

"You can't wait that long," Ahsoka said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Can't I?" Anakin mused, tilting his head. "This just gives me more time to plan my revenge, little sister," he threatened.

Crossing her arms, Ahsoka glared at him. "You brought it on yourself, you know," she told him. "What the fuck were you doing naked anyway?" she scoffed.

"Not your business," Anakin told her flatly. His phone pinged again, turning away from his sister, he checked his message and shook his head, unaware of the expression on his face as he read Padme's comeback.

"Oh my god," Ahsoka said with disgust. "Did you fuck the she-devil?" she demanded harshly.

Anakin swiveled his head towards his sister, throwing her his harshest glare. "What the fuck did you just say?" he hissed through clenched teeth.

Ahsoka gave him a look of sickened disbelief. "What is wrong with you?" she cried.

"You are way off base," Anakin told her sternly.

"Oh yeah?" Ahsoka challenged. "Are you going to tell me that you didn't fuck Padme in that hotel room?"

Anakin glared at his sister, who just raised a challenging brow to him, hand on her hip and tapping her foot impatiently. He was just about to open his mouth in denial, sure that she would see right through him, when he was saved by his phone ringing. Not breaking his glare, Anakin answered his phone instead of his annoyingly perceptive and stubborn sister. "Skywalker?"

Ahsoka huffed in annoyance. "Don't think you're getting out of this!" she snapped.

Anakin tuned her out as he turned away, listening in as his coworkers talked over each other on the other end. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he interrupted them. "Will the two of you calm the fuck down! I'm on my way in, so whatever this mess is, we'll figure it out then," he ground out, pinching the bridge of his nose before hanging up. "As pleasant as this was, I have to go exchange one headache for another," he said, shooting his sister a withering glare. "I swear, Snips, if you do or say anything else less than helpful for this wedding, I will kill you very slowly. I don't care what your reasons are for chaos, our brother deserves to be happy and not have to worry about everything falling apart for a change," he warned her.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Like I do it on purpose," she dismissed. At Anakin's deadpan look, she huffed. "Okay, fine , maybe a little. But you deserved it!"

"You remember that," Anakin told her evenly as he got back into his car and drove away, blasting Metallica from the speakers.

---

Around noon, Anakin pulled into the staff parking of what was historically known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the first United States Naval shipyard, and what is now officially known as, The Navy Yard. What was once a shipyard for the construction of many of the ships in use by the United States Navy, changed when the shipyard was officially closed off in the 1990's; then the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation acquired the site and developed it into what it is now. Instead of being the site of construction for the US's Navel Fleet, it now housed a mixed-use campus where more than 120 companies in a variety of industries employed more than 15,000 people, Anakin Skywalker included. Anakin was employed on behalf of the site where the Navy still operated a facility for the maintenance of inactive ships as well as a department dedicated to several engineering departments. Anakin led his own department and had his own team dedicated to several projects, most of which were under government contract, with a few of his own passion projects.

Grabbing his employee ID from the pocket of his laptop case, he presented it to security as he entered his building and found himself ambushed near the elevator by two very squirrely MIT post-grads who had been anxiously waiting for him.

Once inside the elevator, Anakin calmly pocketed his sunglasses and leaned against the back of the elevator and gave the two post-grads a cool once over. Gaven Marek and Caledon Kestis were both gifted and sharp graduates that Anakin had hand picked from his own alma mater after a stint as a guest lecturer the previous year. He had offered them the chance to intern directly under him with the opportunity for permanent employment once their one year of internship was over, both young men had reminded Anakin of himself and he had so far held zero regret in giving them this opportunity.

Caledon or as he preferred, Cal, came from an huge Irish-American family in Boston, most of which worked blue collar jobs. Cal had been the first in his family to attain a postgraduate degree and was as loyal and hardworking as they came. Anakin had helped him out in finding a place and getting acquainted with his new city. Cal even ended up joining the same parish that Anakin had attended weekly mass to, the two of them being surprised to run into each other outside of work, and in church nonetheless. Other than that, they retained a professional relationship. Cal, while brilliant and ambitious, tended to be just as brash and reckless as his mentor which Anakin both liked and often got frustrated with. Yet, as Anakin eyed Cal's shifty body language, he doubted that Cal had done anything to earn his wrath.

Gaven Marek, however, was a different matter. Gaven was a tough nut. Gaven was from Jacksonville, FL, and didn't talk about his family nor much about his life prior to his time at MIT. Anakin, however, knew that he had a juvenile record, and that getting into MIT was his turnaround. Gavin was brilliant, skilled and had a rebellious streak that Anakin liked to direct into a more creative productivity rather than curb it entirely. Gavin being shifty was nothing new, but Anakin did brace himself for whatever feathers he might need to sooth out of habit. Gaven had a habit of being an abrasive hot-head at times. He had some things he was still working on but as long as it didn't affect his job in any way, Anakin let most of it go and offered advice when he could.

"Alright, out with it," Anakin finally said.

"It's Krennic," Cal began.

"He's gotta go before I knock the fucking lights outta him," Gavin finished.

"Krennic's got delusions of grandeur. He thinks he's in charge…" Cal continued.

Gaven snorted derisively. "The guy's an entitled dick. Just because his uncle is on the board of directors, he thinks his shit don't stink…" he trailed off as he muttered something about molotov cocktails and gator nests under his breath.

Anackin decided that he didn't want to know what the hell that was about and held up a hand. "Okay, I get it. What did Krennic do this time?" he asked tiredly. He really hated having Orsan Krennic being assigned to his department. He could already feel a headache forming as both Cal and Gaven filled him in on Krennic's latest BS while he was away.

By the time the elevator stopped and they stepped off, Anakin, filled in by his two interns, soon-to-be full time team-members, led the way to his office, adjudicated to his lab. He was already annoyed by Cal and Gaven's reports that when he entered to find Krennic sitting in his chair with his shiny leather boots on his desk and engaging in an inappropriate personal call on his office phone, Anakin was pissed.

Krennic failed to notice his entrance, nor the look on Anakin's face when Anakin marched over to literally tip Orson Krennic out of his chair. "What the fuck!" Krennic had the nerve to snap as Anakin forcefully disconnected the phone only to toss it out the open window.

"Boss is back and he is not happy with you ," Gaven informed his nemesis coolly as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as Cal just shook his head.

"Tell me something, Krennic, who's name is on the door?" Anakin asked rhetorically. "Who's department are you employed in?"

"What, you weren't here to oversee things so I stepped in as was natural…" Krennic defended himself proudly.
"I had a business meeting at CalTech, it wasn't a vacation and FYI, you had no authority to act as you were in charge." Anakin cut him off.

"Well, don't I?" Krennic replied with an air of arrogance. "My uncle has assured me of…"

"Don't be so quick to choke on your ambition," Anakin cut him off again. "I don't care who your uncle is. This is my department and I didn't give you the authority to do anything. So imagine my irritation to come in after a morning of conference meetings to complaints about your behavior and you sitting at my desk and on my office phone…"

"Which you threw out the window, destroying company property," Krennic pointed out, interrupting Anakin's lecture.

Anakin crossed his arms and leveled Krennic with an indifferent stare. "No I didn't," he said calmly.

Orsan Krennic frowned and gestured to the window. "I just watched you do it!" he snapped and then turned to Cal and Gavin for backup.

"I didn't see anything," Gavin said and shrugged.

"Me neither," Cal agreed and shot Krennic a concerned look. "Are you having an episode?" he asked.

Anakin refrained from laughing at the insulted look on Orson Krennic's face as he looked around the office.

"My uncle will be hearing about this." Krennic informed them, taking umbrage with his lack of support from the interns he considered beneath him, let alone Anakin's failure to acknowledge his position.

"You go ahead and tell him anything you want, just get the hell out of my office," Anakin ordered as he took a seat at his desk. He barely paid Orson Krennic's dramatic exit any mind and threw a stern glare at his two interns who chuckled at Krennic's expense. "Don't the two of you have something to do?" he questioned evenly.

"Certainly," Gavin said, and pulled Cal out of the office with him, the two whispering conspiratorially together.

Anakin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He really wished he was back on the road with Padme right now, instead of dealing with office BS.

Opening up both his work and his personal laptops from his bag, he immediately began to work on his next task in project 3PO. When the string of coding threatened to give him a headache, he switched over to her personal laptop and, with thoughts of Padme, he pulled up his social media, to send her friend requests and to check out her pages, whichever he could find. He was in the middle of rewatching the videos that Rex sent him from the bar in Missouri when someone called his name.

Growling, he made his way into the lab to find Cal, Gavin and a couple other engineers, Gary Erson and Jack Bowmani, arguing with Orson Krennic. "What is it now?" he demanded. When everyone started shouting at once to answer, Anakin held up a hand to silence them. "One at a time," he corrected.

Gavin pointed a finger at Krennic. "That fucking idiot is going to blow everything up!" he reported.

"Excuse me?" Krennic snapped, taking offense. "Who are you calling a fucking idiot you backwater hoodlum?"

"You must be a fucking idiot to bring that up," Gavin said dangerously.

"Krennic's made some funky adjustments to project 3PO," Cal tried to explain.

Jack snorted derisively. "That's putting it lightly. I've seen fifth graders do a better job at a science fair than what Krennic is trying to pass off as genius," he stated in his typical ominous manner that reminded Anakin of his days in the Air Force when some of the guys came back from a tour overseas.

"We were trying to advise him against testing his calculations, but he is insistent," Gary informed him. He then handed Anakin a clipboard with the calculations so that he could see them for himself.

Anakin frowned as he went over them. "Why do these findings appear to have my approval when this is the first time I'm seeing this?" he asked dangerously.

"The calculations will work. You guys are just afraid of trying something new to ensure progress," Krennic defended himself, brushing away Anakin's question, as though it wasn't important. "Look, I'll show you!"

The next sequence of events would be carefully detailed in a company accident report that Anakin knew he would have to deal with for several weeks. Krennic, ignoring the chorus of shouts for him to stop, entered his equations into the project coding, and set up test operations. To say that his calculations were a shortcut to disaster was an understatement. Anakin, for the life of him, failed to understand just what Krennic was trying to force to happen, but every inch of robotics and machinery in the lab began to malfunction in a comedy of errors that equated to chaos and OSHA violations that could end up shutting the lab down temporarily.

Thoroughly pissed off at Orson Krennic's gross incompetence and sheer arrogance, Anakin shoved him aside and attempted to shut down the disaster Krennic had set in motion. He tensed up at the sound of loud creaking and groaning and turned his head at the loud snap. He was, unfortunately, not fast enough to avoid the snap and swing of a wire which hit him on the side of his face hard enough to knock him off his feet. The last thing that ran through Anakin's mind as he blacked out was how he was going to kill Orsen Krennic.

---

The minute Padme had sat down at her desk in the office, she groaned. In the time since she had left for L.A. and returned, her desk had become a dumping ground. Her office phone rang off the hook. Padme found herself multitasking between fielding phone calls, and filing paperwork as well as reorganizing her entire system that had been transformed into a chaotic nightmare by her co-workers.

Around noon, on her break, Padme had resorted to grab some coffee from the breakroom and took a few minutes to check her phone. Her notifications informed her that she had a friend request on facebook, a new follower on instagram, and twitter. Opening her facebook app, she quickly accepted the friend request from Anakin, chuckling at his profile picture, he's playing fetch in his mom's backyard with Greedo and Jinney blowing bubbles. Anakin had about fifty friends on his page and until she had accepted his friend request, it was locked down as private as can be. He had his occupation as a Mechanical Engineer listed, his status as a US Air Force Vet listed as well as a graduate of MIT and listed his religion as Catholic. His mom, step-dad, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were also listed as his friends, and often commented on each other's posts. As far as she could see, not a single political or religious post made it onto his page. In fact it was as clean as can be. The only controversial thing he even posted was a while back about the arrest of Andrew Tate. Anakin clearly had nothing short of antagonistic feelings for the guy. In fact, the visceral distaste for the so-called male influencer was palpable in the disgusted rant Anakin let loose on facebook. Several guys on his friend list agreed, with Ahsoka expressing a challenge to lock herself in a cage with the disgraced incel influencer which Anakin surprisingly encouraged with dark glee while Rex and a few buddies shuddered in response, expressing fear of Ahsoka which Ahsoka had shared a little pic of her in athletic gear, standing proudly in the center of a boxing ring.

Clicking out of her deep dive of Anakin's facebook page, she checked out her other notifications. Twitter was rather tame as well, Anakin doesn't seem to spend much time on there, though he does have a few interesting accounts that he follows. However it is his instagram account that appeared to be more prolific. There are a lot of car posts, a few motorcycles and a number of jets. A few of Anakin in uniform. There was even a little clip of him preparing for takeoff in his own jet.

Padme was just coming across a pic of Anakin on his instagram, laughing at the camera, t-shirt clinging to him when her co-worker, Miri Scintel, the office gossip and self-proclaimed maneater, leaned over and wolf whistled.

"Who's the absolute hunk?" Miri asked, practically licking her lips.

Padme did not like the way the woman ogled Anakin's picture like some sort of predator. Closing her phone, she turned to the woman. "He's my friend. I've known him forever," she informed her.

"You should introduce us," Miri suggested, practically purring.

Padme felt her hackles raise as she threw her co-worker a cool glare. "Why? So you can throw yourself at my good friend?" she demanded.

"Have you climbed that tree yet?" Miri suggestively asked. "What is he, six foot tall, chiseled muscle?"

Padme knew that the woman was trying to provoke her but there was no way she was going to tell her that, yes, she and Anakin were in fact sleeping together. The very idea of Anakin and Miri Scintel doing anything other than shake hands churned her stomach and Padme knew that she would be doing her hardest to prevent the two from ever meeting, despite their no jealousy agreement. "Six foot-two inches," Padme easily corrected.

"Such details…" Miri purred.

Padme shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee. "Well, we grew up together. There's hardly anything we don't know about the other," she said breezily.

"And yet, no one has heard a thing about him…"Miri noted.

"There's nothing more to say," Padme dismissed. "If you'll excuse me," she said, finishing her coffee, and leaving the breakroom to return to her desk.

As she poured over the files of various applicants to the company, she checked their LinkedIn pages to corroborate their resumes, before sending them off to her superiors. Distracted by Miri's probing and the thoughts of her best friend, she found herself searching Anakin on LinkedIn, finding his page there. Anakin had a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and his skillset was nothing short of impressive. His LinkedIn page was a recruiters dream! Padme couldn't help but feel a stab of envy towards her friend. Unlike her childhood ambitions, Padme had opted out of returning to university for a graduate degree. The desire to be home was too overwhelming for her to even consider continuing her education, much to her father's disappointment. Rather than pursuing a career that she felt passionate about, Padme fell into the first corporate ladder that she had reached. Anakin, however, had achieved more than his dreams apparently.

Forestalling a melancholy mood, Padme clicked out of LinkedIn and continued to field through the pileup on her desk with a singular focus. She would not let Anakin Skywalker make her cry ever again. Instead, she would choose to be happy for her friend. Yes, she could do that, Anakin certainly earned all the praise he could garner. Padme was perfectly aware that he was a hard worker and he was definitely not lacking in the intelligence department. Who was she to begrudge him for all of his achievements? Even if he reached all of those goals without her while she hated every bit of her own higher education, feeling dissatisfied in her current field of work. Anakin had his own set path in life that he had chosen for himself, while she had absolutely no idea what she wanted anymore.

Later that evening, when she returned home, a cheesesteak for her dinner in hand, Padme felt exhausted. When her eyes landed on the hand decorated keepsake treasure chest laying under her tv stand, taunting her, she groaned and bit her lip. Turning away from the memories inside the chest, she focused on the plain bookcase that was full of books, nicknacks and potted plants. Tracing the spines of the various books in her collection, she pulled out her worn copy of Little Women, the Barnes and Noble collectible edition. Tracing the beautiful bonded leather cover of the book, Padme was awash with a mixture of nostalgia and melancholy. Flipping open the book to its center page, she sat down and pulled out the folded piece of paper kept hidden within this old novel. Unfolding the letter, Padme sucked in a deep breath. She didn't know why she kept this letter all these years, but the welcoming congratulations expressed in this letter did nothing but fill her with regret. She had spent her entire adolescence working towards this one dream, and yet every time she read this letter, she felt nothing but shame.

Folding the letter back up, she tucked it back up inside the book, and returned the book to its place upon the shelf. Even as she turned her back on her secret, the words: Dear Padme Naberrie, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Harvard University , still burned in her memory.

---

Anakin hated hospitals, especially emergency rooms. The fact that he was currently perched on a curtained off bed in the emergency room, courtesy of both Gavin and Cal, who had escorted him to the ER, as a medical intern examined the blood soaked right side of his face only exacerbated his loathing for the ER.

Anakin hissed as the intern dabbed at his face with antiseptic. "How fast can this heal?" he questioned irritably. "My brother is getting married next week and I'm the best man. I really don't want to be the reason why his wedding picture sucks, again!"

The curtain around his cot was yanked open, the metal hooks echoing a grating ringing from the force of the yank. "What happened?"

Anakin threw his head back against the standard hospital pillow and bit back a string of obscenities. "I thought I had specifically requested that my mother wasn't to be notified that I was here," he ground out.

"Oh, as though I wouldn't notice a large gash on the side of your face, Anakin Skywalker," Shmi stated, giving her son a pointed look. "Care to explain what happened?"

His two post-grad interns shared a look, weighing the pros and cons of which Skywalker to answer to. While Shmi Skywalker-Lars was a force unto herself, the source of Anakin Skywalker's indomitable will itself, Anakin was still their boss and neither wanted to risk his wrath. Taking pity on his underlings, Anakin answered. "Orsen Krennic is a dead man," he bit out.

"Ah, the project 3PO fuckup?" Shmi immediately deduced. Cal gulped while Gaven drew back with narrowed eyes, both shooting hesitant glances at Anakin. Neither were aware that the project wasn't a sensitive secret. Shmi took pity on the two boys. "I know all about Project 3PO boys. My son has been working on that since he was fourteen," she assured the two young men.

"Krennic is a puffed up baboon with a superiority complex. Just because he's the nephew of a board member, he thinks he can just do as he wants without consequences," Anakin sniped.

The intern doctor reached for a syringe filled with a standard localized anesthesia. "Oh you'll need a much higher dose than that," Shmi intercepted. "My son has an unusually high tolerance for that. It should be noted in his medical chart somewhere." She pulled up Anakin's records and found the notations, sharing it with the intern.

"This should numb the area around the wound for the stitches," the intern said as he applied the correct dose around Anakin's brow.

"I don't feel anything but rage," Anakin said with deceptive calm, his eyes looking murderous. Shmi just rolled her eyes, well used to her son's dramatics by now.

Cal and Gavin exchanged a cautious look. "Dude, should we warn Krennic?" Cal whispered.

"Naw, Man, Krennik made his bed," Gavin said.

"I'm Catholic, I can't be complicit in murder," Cal protested.

"Death is too good for Krennic," Anakin stated calmly, the murderous glint still in his eyes.

Gavin smirked. "I'm all in, Boss," he said to Anakin.

"I knew I kept you around for a reason," Anakin stated and hissed as the intern began to apply the stitches beside his eye. "Thanks to Krennic's recklessness, I've got not just an accident report to submit but a possible visit from OSHA," he ground out.

"That bad, huh?" Shmi tsked, smoothing back her son's hair.

"It's a fucking disaster! I hate nepotism!" Anakin snapped.

"Don't we all," the intern stitching up Anakin's face said in sympathy.

"We're taking care of Krennic legally," Anakin pointedly informed his interns.

Cal raised his hands in a sign of peace while Gavin groaned in protest. "But if you ever change your mind, I know a guy…" Gavin trailed off as Cal elbowed him.

"I swear that I don't want to know what type of guy you know," Anakin said firmly as he glared at Gavin. "Krennic is relying on the fact that his uncle is a board member to protect him. We need to remain as faultless as we can be if we're going to get rid of him."

"Right," Gavin said reluctantly. "Can I still pour sugar in his gas tank?"

"What you do in your freetime is none of my business, unless you get caught and arrested. Then I'm going to have to terminate your internship," Anakin informed him.

"I'll take that as an answer," Gavin grinned.

"Dude, don't follow through with that plan," Cal protested, gesturing at both Shmi and the intern who chuckled at the boys.

"As my other son would say, admitting intent in front of witnesses is pre-meditation for a crime," Shmi casually informed the boys. At both Cal and Gavin's stares, she shrugged. "My oldest son is a lawyer," she explained.

"Which brings back my earlier question about the scar," Anakin said, glancing from the corner of his eye at the intern.

"I'm not sure about the stitches, but it's very likely to be a scar," the intern answered. "It's most likely to make you look rather rugged if you ask me," the intern added, giving Anakin a shy smile.

Reading the look the medical intern gave him, Anakin sighed. "As flattering as that might be, I'm into women," he informed the guy.

"The hot ones usually are," the intern said with a sigh "All done," he announced, stepping away.

As Shmi inspected the side of his face, Anakin grimaced. "How bad is it? Should I start apologizing to Obi-Wan and Satine about the state of their wedding pictures now or…"

"It looks fine, Ani," Shmi assured her son. "A scar and a few stitches are not the same as knocking over a chocolate fountain because you got into a fistfight with the bride's brother," she reminded him, shaking her head over the fight that broke out during Obi-Wan's first wedding. Anakin and Ferus hadn't been able to be in the same room without a verbal altercation threatening to turn violent since. Jinney's birth and Siri's funeral being the only two exceptions.

"I was sixteen and he started it," Anakin defended himself.

Shmi rolled her eyes. "I'm sure," she said dryly. "Now, how did you get this injury?" she asked firmly.

Anakin sighed, knowing his mother wasn't about to let it go. Turning to Cal and Gavin, he told them to go back to work and help Jack and Gary sort out the mess at the lab. He waited for them to leave before he explained what happened, bracing himself for his mother to overact to the fact that he had been knocked off his feet. To his disappointment and frustration, he had been right as she had demanded a series of tests be done before he could hope to go home, collapse on his couch and watch something on Netflix.

---

At the end of a long day at work, Padme made it home to her small, one bedroom apartment. Drained from the monotonous workload that had piled up on her desk from her time away, Padme pulled up her iTunes library and hooked her phone up to her bluetooth speaker, letting Adele's 25 play as she set about preparing a single meal from one of her HelloFresh kits. Soon enough, she found herself singing along as she cooked, feeling lighter than she had when she walked in the door.

This particular album always did the trick, whenever she had a bad day or felt too much. It came out in the fall of her second year at Notre Dame. Hello, being the track that hit her the most. Padme could remember listening to it on repeat as she cried, binging on junk food, feeling more alone than anything in her life. Her freshman year of college wasn't what she had ever hoped for and she found herself just going through the motions. But when summer break approached, she had come up with a plan. She had hoped that with a year behind them, she could find a way to fix her friendship with Anakin, that perhaps with cooler heads and some distance, they could make up and be friends again. Only, Anakin never made it home for the summer. He hadn't been there for the holidays or spring break either. No one had bothered to tell her where he had gone either. Anakin's family were nothing but polite and cordial, asking her about college but not once did they explain Anakin's absence. When she asked, they would share a look. Ahsoka, however, didn't bother being polite. The girl just gave her the cold shoulder. The only time she would break her silent treatment towards Padme was to tell her that if Anakin wanted her to know what he was doing then he'd tell her and that was it.

Of course, Padme knew where he had been now. At the time, she had felt the sting of rejection throughout the summer. Unable to stand remaining home for the rest of the summer with the reminders of a broken friendship everywhere she looked, Padme had joined Teckla in New York, where her friend was participating in a summer internship. Returning to Notre Dame for the next semester had been rough. She socially isolated herself and focused on her studies. It wasn't until after winter break that her student adviser-turned friend had insisted on Padme enjoying her time in university. Padme had never been more grateful to Satine for pushing her to break out of her shell. With Satine's guidance, Padme attended more social events on campus, joined more parties, met new people. , However, none of the friends she met in college had resulted in long lasting friendships. After graduation, they've all drifted apart, except for Satine.

It was at one of those parties that Padme had met her first college boyfriend. She hadn't felt that the relationship had a future and neither did he, but they had fun, nonetheless. They broke up in the middle of junior year and Padme navigated the complicated single life for a while before she met Ian. Ian had instantly been interested in a relationship, and it took months of his persistence before Padme had agreed to go on one date. That date was a disaster and Padme had politely declined another, until the end of senior year. She and Ian had kept bumping into each other and maintained a polite acquaintance before they tried for a second date. That date was far more successful and the two began to date exclusively for years. Ian had wanted a future, had invested himself into the relationship where Padme just could't. Padme struggled to fall in love with him, struggling to return his affection at the same speed as Ian. Padme had long talks with Teckla, questioning why she held so much of herself back. The more she pulled away, the more possessive Ian got, the more desperate, the more he clung. It got to the point where Padme felt suffocated in the relationship but struggled to find a way out that didn't hurt Ian further. Ian hated how much Padme confided in Teckla instead of him and went so far as to blame Teckla for why Padme wouldn't commit to their relationship. It all came to a toxic head when he tried one last desperate attempt to manipulate their birth control so that she would get pregnant and he could successfully propose. The fight that ended the relationship had been brutal and they both said hurtful things that couldn't be unsaid. Padme was unforgiving and Ian devastated.

Finished cooking, Padme sat down with her meal in front of her tv, she pulled up a terrible Lifetime move in order to turn her mind off. She lost interest in the plot halfway through, finished her meal and walked back into the kitchen to clean up. Out of the corner of her eye, she kept glancing back to the old treasure chest sitting under her tv stand, the one she had brought back from her parents house.

Pouring herself a glass of wine, she walked back into the living room and pulled out the chest, setting it down on the coffee table. Taking a long sip of wine, Padme traced the hand-decorated lid, the painted symboles, swirls and found seashells from the Jersey Shore, and natural crystals that she had collected in her youth. Reverently lifting the lid, she was met with the contents of the chest.

Pictures, video disks, keepsakes and folded papers were all stuffed to the brim of the chest. Picking up a handful of pictures, Padme shifted through them. Her lifelong friendship with Anakin had been well documented and this chest held the proof of just how close they had been.

Taking another sip of wine, Padme picked up her phone before she knew what she was doing, found Anakin in her contacts and pressed the dial button. It barely rang once before she heard his distracted voice.

" Hello ?"

"Do you remember that class trip to the Poconos?" Padme asked, sorting through a collection of pictures of Anakin in full snow gear next to a snowboard and giving a cheeky thumbs up.

" Wasn't that Sophomore year ?" Anakin asked.

"Junior," Padme corrected. "I can't remember much about skiing on that trip," she admitted with a frown.

" That's because you twisted your ankle the first day of the trip. I had to carry you back to the lodge ," Anakin reminded her.

Padme remembered it now. They were on the slopes and Padme still hadn't gotten the hang of the skis when she had the misfortune to hit a snow covered rock. The minute she let out a frightened scream, she was down in the snow. Anakin was immediately at her side, checking if she was okay. He had been the one to deduce that her ankle wasn't broken, just twisted. Teckla wasn't far behind and had helped Anakin gather their stuff up as they made their way back to the lodge. Anakin had carried her on his back through the snow. The three of them had spent the rest of the trip holed up at the lodge, drinking hot chocolate, playing board games and just enjoying each other's company.

"I remember," Padme said. "Didn't you insist on carrying me everywhere during that trip?" she teased.

" You were injured ," Anakin said, as though it wasn't worth questioning.

"And if I were to twist my ankle again, would you still insist on carrying me everywhere on your back?" she teased, taking another sip of wine.

" No, I would not ," he said so seriously, that it surprised Padme, giving her pause. However, before she could recover enough to formulate a response, he was speaking. " I never did get to enjoy those snowboarding lessons ," he said lightly, giving Padme whiplash by the abrupt change in tone.

"I didn't ask you to stay off the slopes," Padme told him offhandedly.

" Those lessons weren't cheap ," Anakin reminded her.

"I'm sorry, are you expecting me to reimburse you almost twelve years later?" Padme asked.

" Just making a point ," Anakin casually stated and Padme was certain that he was grinning on the other end.

"Perhaps we can plan another trip in the future," she suggested, considering the idea in her head. She couldn't help the image of being holed up in a ski cabin, just the two of them, a bearskin rug and the warmth from a lit fireplace… It was enough to force her to bite her lip to keep herself from moaning at the thought. Padme wasn't sure what was happening to her that she couldn't stop thinking of her friend in such a way and she wasn't sure that she had enough willpower to fight it.

" Maybe ," Anakin said softly. " Did you just call me to reminisce about an old class field trip ?" he asked.

"I'm just rifling through some old stuff I picked up from my parents. You're not busy are you?" Padme answered quietly.

" I'm supposed to be working …"

"Oh! Well, I'm sorry for distracting you, I'll just…"

" You're a welcome distraction ," Anakin cut her off with a chuckle. " Honestly, I'm glad you called. I've been staring at this string of coding for some AI for over an hour with no results. I was considering calling it a night either way ." he informed her.

"You're working on something AI related?" Padme asked, intrigued.

" Trying to ," Anakin said and Padme could just picture him running a hand through his hair.

"Tell me about it," Padme requested, setting the pictures down.

" Can't. It's classified ," Anakin informed her.

Padme pouted. "You're teasing me," she accused him lightly. "Don't think I'm buying this mysterious act of yours, Ani," she tsked.

" It's not an act. I am legally prohibited from disclosing even a hint about this particular project. Believe me, I'd like to talk about it, but I can't ," Anakin told her seriously.

"So this has nothing to do with Project 3PO?"Padme asked.

" Ah, Project 3PO is my passion project. I have zero confidentiality clauses keeping me from talking about it ," Anakin laughed and Padme could just imagine the way his eyes would light up when talking about his interests, and the way he would grin ear to ear. Padme had missed that look in his eyes and she couldn't remember the last time that she had seen it.

"Are you ever going to tell me why the name sounds so familiar?" Padme pouted.

" Seriously? I would have thought that you'd have figured it out by now ," and Padme could hear the surprise in his voice.

"I know that the name sounds familiar but nothing is ringing a bell," Padme admitted. "Can't you give me a hint?" she asked.

" Hmm, one hint? Well lets see… " Anakin mused and Padme could just picture the teasing glint in his eyes. " Lets just say that I was inspired for project 3PO after watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. "

"That doesn't tell me anything," Padme told him flatly and Anakin just laughed on the other end. He was being deliberately vague, like the asshole he was.

" Aside from taking a turn down memory lane, what else were you doing before you decided to call ?" he asked.

"I ate dinner while watching a crap Lifetime movie. I tuned(right word?) out halfway through," Padme told him breezily.

" Ugg, no. Why would you watch that crap ?" Anakin demanded with a scoff and Padme could just picture the disgusted look on his face.

"I needed something to shut my mind off for a while," Padme said defensively.

" If you want to turn your brain off for a little while, tune into crap reality tv. Don't watch one of those god awful Lifetime movies. Seriously, that shit'll rot your brain ," Anakin argued.

Padme rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'll bite. What turns your mind off?" she asked.

" Nothing. My mind is always focused on multiple things at once. I'm lucky enough to even sleep ," Anakin quipped though Padme could note the hint of truth in his words.

"Interesting," Padme said, leaning back into her couch. It was yet another new thing she was learning about her best friend. Who was this man that the boy she had known her entire childhood had grown into? She knew that Anakin was brilliant, hyper focussed and always came up with a dozen ideas varying from tame, to creative and absolutely insane at the drop of the hat. However, in all the years that they had known each other, Anakin had never described himself in such a way. Cradling her wineglass to her chest, she bit her lip, resisting the mad urge to ask about how his thought process worked during sex. "What are you thinking about now?" she asked, instead.

" I'm mentally going over my to-do-list for tomorrow before the bachelor party. I only got home from the rehearsal dinner a little over two-hours ago when I decided to try to get some work done with little luck ," He informed her, sounding exhausted.

Padme swore at the reminder of the rehearsal dinner that she had missed. She had failed to get out of work in time to attend and had to call Satine to apologize during her break. Satine had been more than understanding at the idea of one of her bridesmaids being absent from the rehearsal dinner that Padme was profusely thankful for Satine's genuine inner kindness. She felt a renewed sense of assurance that her friend was the absolutely perfect person to fill Siri's vacated place in Obi-Wan's and Jinney's lives. At least she could be there for her friend for her bachelorette party and would be wholly present the entire day of the wedding itself.

"I can't imagine the best man's duties are all that different this time around," Padme said lightly.

" Last time I was Obi-Wan's best man, I was sixteen and had restricted, supervised duties ," Anakin reminded her. " Back then, it was Quinlin who organized the bachelor party and apparently the stories didn't do it justice, considering the anxious hovering that my brother has been doing while I was trying to plan it. It's been a pain in the ass to keep it a surprise ."

Padme chuckled at the mention of Obi-Wan's childhood best friend and college roommate, Quinlin Vos. As much as Obi-Wan Kenobi tried to present himself as a proper, upstanding member of society, his choice in best friends hinted at something else entirely. Quinlin Vos was an untamable force, the wild card to Obi-Wan's straight man act. Quinlin still wore his dark hair in dreadlocks down the center of his back, collected tattoos and piercings like art and performed in a garage metal rock band for fun. She could only guess what the insane wild card had planned the first time that Obi-Wan got married to make the man nervous about his own brother's attempt twelve years later.

"So, what do you have planned?" Padme asked, genuinely curious about what Anakin would plan, not discounting the expected strip clubs, considering the new intimate knowledge she had gained about her friend.

" The party bus has been reserved and paid for a month in advance. I've been unable to keep that one a surprise ," Anakin said, with a small hint of irritation.

"A party bus sounds like a Quinlin thing to do," Padme quipped.

Anakin scoffed at the other end. " Quinlin wouldn't bother, he's too insane ," he said and Padme could just imagine her friend shaking his head. " No, the party bus is more of a way to get from point A to B safely without the reliance of a designated driver ," he explained matter-of-factly.

"So there's more than one stop?" Padme noted.

" A tour of artisan and craft breweries across the city ," Anakin noted, as though expecting her to be impressed.

"What, no strippers?" Padme asked, surprised.

" Per the request of the bride and groom ," Anakin confirmed.

"Sounds very Obi-Wan," Padme complimented. "I'm impressed. Although, I imagine if it was your bachelor party, it would be something more wild and raunchy," she teased.

" I honestly have no thoughts of the concept ," Anakin told her seriously.

"The bachelor party or the strippers?" Padme asked.

" Either ," Anakin confirmed honestly. " Don't get me wrong, I've been to the occasional strip club, they're just not my thing ," he disclosed.

"You're full of surprises," Padme breathed.

" What? Do you expect me to spend time watching random women strip for cash ?"

There was something guarded in his tone that felt foreign to Padme. The Anakin that she had known so well, for so long, had always been an open book, someone that she could read as easily as her own mind. Distantly, she wondered how long he had been building walls between them, as the ghost of a memory kept persisting. Yet she couldn't pinpoint it. She recalled an admission in a Pittsburg hotel room and she couldn't help but question what she was missing.

Padme's gaze caught on an arrangement of pictures laid out on her coffee table. There was one, taken when they were just kids, arms around each other, their cheeks touching as they grinned at the camera together. There was the one taken the first week of freshman year in the middle of the hallway, she was smiling bashfully at the camera, standing next to Anakin who was giving one of his mischievous smirks at the camera. Another had been taken on her father's boat from that summer he joined her family for their annual vacation to the Jersey Shore the summer between freshman and sophomore year, They were looking at different points, she was turned towards the water while he stared off in the distance, broodingly. There was another, when they were sixteen, strolling down the street, both laughing, she had thrown her arms around him from behind, mid laugh. A final photo, taken in senior year, long before that fight stood out to her. For her, nothing had changed as she sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder, but there was something off in his expression. Picking up the photo in question, she peered at it further. Anakin's smile didn't reach his eyes, there was something off that she couldn't identify.

"Do you ever wish that you could go back in time and do it all over?" she asked, unable to look away from the Anakin in the picture. What was she missing? How did she not notice something was off regarding her best friend?

" No ," Anakin answered without hesitation.

Padme sat up, taking note of his tone, expecting something else. "Oh?" she murmured.

"It doesn't help anything to focus on the past. We can't change it so why bother? All we can do is move forward. We've only got one life, so we should take what we've been given and find a way to make something worthwhile out of it ," he reasoned, justifying his immediate answer.

"How philosophical," Padme said softly, her gaze still fixed on photo Anakin, who's eyes she couldn't read.

" I prefer the term realistic ," Anakin countered, loftily.

Setting the photo down, Padme decided to revisit the mystery later. In an attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere, she adopted a light tone. "You know, I had a dream about you earlier this week," she informed him.

" You did ?" Anakin asked, his interest piqued.

Smiling to herself, Padme leaned back into her couch, settling into a reclined position, her finger hooked on a loose curl around her shoulder. "Yeah. We were back in high school and you climbed through my window, like you used to do, and brought me a tin of your aunt Jira's homemade fudge," she told him playfully.

" Sounds familiar ," he noted warmly.

"We were just sitting on my bed, talking, all normal until you kissed me," Padme continued.

" I did ?" he asked roughly and Padme detected the faint sound of him clearing his throat.

"Yeah, crazy huh?" Padme murmured.

Anakin didn't immediately answer, though she could hear him breathing on the other end. " I suppose a tin of Aunt Jira's homemade fudge is worthy of a kiss ," he said slowly.

"Or more," Padme remarked, remembering the countless times she had the pleasure of sampling the treat. She couldn't remember the last time she had the opportunity to taste it. Just the mere memory of it had her mouth watering. She wondered if she could entice Anakin into bringing her a tin in the near future.

Anakin groaned on the other end, most likely thinking along the same line. " As tempting as it is to test the offer out, I'm sorry to say that Aunt Jira took the recipe to her grave, " he informed her regretfully. " Mom searched everywhere, the recipe is lost ."

Disappointment and loss hit Padme as she sighed. "It's just as well," she said, "all it'll do is go straight to my hips."

" What are you talking about ?" Anakin asked, genuinely perplexed.

Padme rolled her eyes. "Of course Mr. Six-Pack doesn't get it," she scoffed.

" Get what ?"

"Exactly!" Padme told him. "Anakin, you're all muscle, which I get, military training and all and honestly, you look great, really. Not like you need the ego boost, I am sure that you are perfectly aware of how you look. Meanwhile, in the last ten years, it's pretty obvious that I've gained weight. Ten years ago I wore a size four and now I'm lucky to squeeze into a size ten jeans."

" Is that what this is about ?" Anakin asked incredulously.

"You're surprised?" Padme laughed.

" Okay, yeah, I work out, obviously. I run every morning and go to the gym every Tuesday and Thursday for a more intensive workout. but do you really think I do it for my looks ?" he argued.

"I suppose that you're going to say it's a habit," Padme drawled. "That it's just keeping up with the same workout from basic training…"

" I have a personal trainer overseeing my workout ," he admitted slowly.

"Fancy," Padme drawled.

" Necessary ," Anakin corrected. " Padme, this isn't about my ego or some habit enforced on me from my drill sergeant. I work out for my health, because if I didn't… "

Padme heard the words he apparently couldn't bring himself to say. "It has to do with this so-called-nothing surgery?" she guessed.

On the other end, she could hear Anakin exhale through his teeth. " Yes ," he grudgingly said but didn't elaborate further. He didn't give her an opportunity to formulate a question following up on that admission. Because as Padme opened her mouth to even attempt to ask a question, he had turned things back around to her. " You're crazy if you think you have anything to worry about, you know. So what, you don't have the same body that you had in high school? You're fucking gorgeous and you know it ," he affirmed.

Heat crawled beneath her skin as she heard the husky undertones in his voice as he said this. Swallowing thickly, she closed her eyes and sighed. "You're only saying that because you're my best friend," She countered. She had seen the kind of women Anakin had apparently found attractive, Padme couldn't compete with them and she wasn't going to even try.

" Yeah, well, maybe I'm not as good of a friend as you think I am if I can't stop thinking about your body ," Anakin remarked suggestively and gave a throaty chuckle. " Padme, I've seen you naked, my mouth and hands have practically touched every inch of your body. Trust me, you've got nothing to feel insecure about ," he reminded her huskily.

Padme bit her lip, pressing her thighs together as she resisted reaching down to touch herself, moaning at the memory of that sinful mouth of his. She craved his touch like a moth to a flame, feeling like it had been ages, even if it was only five days since they had parted ways at their parents houses Sunday evening.

"My thighs are too fat," She managed to point out in as normal a tone as she could manage.

" I happen to like thick thighs, especially wrapped tightly around my head ."

Padme bit down on her bottom lip hard at the mental image provoked by his counter argument. "My ass is huge. I swear, one day it swelled up like a balloon in high school and hasn't deflated since," she grumbled.

" Seriously? You're complaining about that ?" Anakin chortled. " Padme, you've always had a great ass, Jennifer Lopez wishes she had your ass ."

"Jennifer Lopez, not Kim Kardashian?" Padme asked, raising an eyebrow despite knowing that Anakin couldn't see her facial expression.

" Kim Kardashian had fat injected into her ass to appease that asshole she married, what you have is perfectly natural. Besides, I am certain that you have the self respect not to alter your body just to please some asshole ," Anakin explained.

"You really think I have a great ass?" Padme asked, hearing the conviction in his voice.

" I've always admired your ass ," Anakin confessed, quietly. " I used to fantasize about your ass ."

"You did? Really?" Padme drawled as she refilled her wine glass.

" I'm hard just thinking about it ," he groaned.

Padme pressed the back of her hand against her mouth as she rubbed her thighs together at the mere thought he just projected to her. Closing her eyes, she suppressed her own groan. In her mind's eye, she couldn't suppress the image of Anakin fully aroused, all big and hard, inching closer to her with the tantalizing slowness of an approaching predator. Opening her eyes, she made her decision to stop resisting temptation.

"Ani…?"

" Yeah ?"

"When…" Padme couldn't help the little smirk as she pictured his instant reaction, hearing his breathing hitch on the other end.

" Your place or mine ?" he asked, his voice deepening with lust.

"Come over," Padme decided, shivering with anticipation at the tone of his voice.

After hanging up, Padme texted her address to Anakin and proceeded to rush around to prep for his arrival. In the bathroom, she quickly freshened up and shaved her legs before standing in the middle of her bedroom, stuck in an internal debate about what to wear. Padme finally settled on a comfortable, yet casual pair of stretchy shorts and a tank top over a clean pair of underwear, forgoing the bra. This was Anakin, after all. There was no need to agonize over her appearance as if she were expecting some exciting date. Right? It was just one friend hanging out with another, even with sex clearly on the table.

While she waited for the distinct sound of Anakin's mustang, Padme busied herself with a quick sweep of her apartment when the loud, revving engine of a motorcycle reached her ear. Letting out an annoyed huff, Padme paused, once it became evident that the annoying sound wasn't of a passing motorcyclist, but of one coming to a stop right outside her building. No one in her building owned a motorcycle, so, out of cautious curiosity, Padme pulled aside the curtain to peer out her window and down to the street to see who had pulled up. She was just in time to see the rider of a custom built black and chrome motorcycle pull off his helmet, revealing the very familiar head of golden curls.

"Of course he has a motorcycle," Padme muttered to herself. "Why should I even be surprised," she shook her head as she moved to open the door, just as Anakin made his way up the steps to her door.

After a brief, tight hug, Padme pulled away and narrowed her eyes, gently touching the side of his face. "What happened here?" she asked, indicating the stitched up cut along the side of his right eye.

"Lab accident, nothing to worry about," Anakin told her with a dismissive shrug. "I've already heard it from my mother, who by the way, intercepted the ER nurse on rotation while I was there, so just, leave it." he rolled his eyes as he unzipped his motorcycle jacket, following her inside the apartment.

"Far be it for me to one up the great Shmi Skywalker-Lars," Padme teased him.

"From the way she frets, you'd think I was twelve, not a twenty-eight year old grown man," Anakin grumbled.

"Oh, I wonder why, Danny Zuko," Padme threw over her shoulder lightly as she made a beeline for the kitchen.

Anakin chuckled as he slipped out of his jacket, hanging it on the hook by the door. "If I'm Danny does that make you Sandy or are you a Pink Lady?" he asked and took in the apartment. "Hello, Ikea," he quipped, noting the décor.

Padme rolled her eyes. "You mock, but just wait until I get a glimpse of your place," she retorted. "Want anything to drink?" She had opened the cabinet and reached for a glass before she realized she was being crowded.

Anakin had followed her into the small, U-shaped kitchen and proceeded to trap her between the kitchen cabinets and his much larger frame. Padme could feel his body heat enveloping her from behind, like a being swallowed by a giant teddy bear. Anakin had always been so warm, compared to others, despite having constant complaints of being cold. Ever since high school, Padme resented being so petite while Anakin was so tall, making her feel like a child next to him. Yet, there was something distinctly comforting in the way he completely enveloped her. Padme bit her lip as goosebumps decorated her flesh, feeling his warm breath against her ear as he leaned forward. His hand reached up alongside hers, not for the drinking glasses, but to grab a pair of novelty shot glasses Sola had given her for her twenty-first birthday.

Brandishing the embarrassingly naughty decorated shot glasses between his long, calloused fingers, Anakin offered her his teasing, mischievous grin. "We can do the body shots you wanted to do last week," he suggested.

Making a face, Padme gently shoved him away. "Ugg, no, I have sworn off Tequila," She groaned, the mere thought of it making her stomach churn.

Anakin, however, didn't give up that easily. "Oh, come on! Drunk Padme was fun…" he insisted, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Padme expertly ducked under his arm, and swiveled out and around from where he previously had her pinned. "Funny, but correct me if I am wrong but didn't Drunk Padme and Drunk Anakin forget to use a condom," she reminded him wryly.

Anakin turned around to lean against the counter, crossing his arms across his chest, his entire body casual while he raised an eyebrow at her. "Why do I get the feeling that you're going to hold that over my head for a while?" he pondered.

"At least until you do something of equal or more stupid impulsiveness," Padme offered thoughtfully.

Anakin shook his head, the corners of his mouth turning upwards. "The way I recall, you started it," he reminded her. "As always, I take the fall for whenever you decide to be reckless," he taunted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Padme informed him imperiously as she circled the breakfast bar that served as her eating space, separating the kitchen from the living room. "Out of the two of us, you're the reckless one…" she threw over her shoulder before letting out a surprised squeak.

Anakin had followed her from the kitchen and grasped her from around the waist, pulling her flush against him, prompting the squeak. "I'm the reckless one, huh?" he breathed into her neck.

Leaning back against him, Padme savored the feeling that came over her at the close contact. Anakin's natural body heat must have had an effect on her as she felt her entire body warm. Once again, he completely enveloped her and Padme hadn't felt this safe in what felt like forever, secure in his firm embrace. "Well, it is what you are known for," she told him lightly, smiling.

"I should have known better than to take the fall for you every time. Half of the crap we pulled as kids was your idea!" Anakin reminded her, his fingers lightly trailing up her sides and suddenly Padme realized where he was inching towards. Before he could reach the spot that she was most ticklish in, a weak spot that Anakin always exploited since they were kids just to hear her shriek with uncontrolled giggle, she twisted out of his arms and tried to walk away. Again, he caught her by the arm, gently tugging her to him as she spun around. He leaned in for a kiss, which she welcomed by throwing her arms around his shoulders.

The five days apart suddenly felt like years as Padme lost herself in the kiss, their bodies pressing against each other as Anakin backed her up towards the wall. Padme felt her back hit the bookcase instead, a few nicknacks getting jostled in the impact, and a couple books falling over. On reflex, Padme threw her hand up behind her to prevent anything else from falling. A moment of panic had her quickly open her eyes to make sure her copy of Little Women was secure. The last thing she wanted was for it to fall open at their feet and for her secret to be exposed.

Anakin broke the kiss and grinned, his face mere inches from hers as their eyes met. "You can't argue plausible deniability with me, Padme. I know all of your secrets," he teased her.

Padme thought of the letter hidden within the pages of Little Women and knew the fallacy in his statement. "You think so?" she teased back.

Anakin chuckled. "You can't hide anything from me. We're partners in crime, remember?" he told her confidently, leaning in for another, quick kiss.

"There's ten years to account for, Ani. Don't deny having secrets of your own," she pointed out.

Anakin sighed. "Right," he said and stepped away. Before she could feel the loss of bodily contact, he reached for her hand, leading her over to the couch and sat down. "I remember this," he noted, leaning forward to check out the little chest that they had decorated together as kids.

"I haven't looked through any of this in years," Padme told him as he sorted through their childhood memories.

"I can't believe you kept this all," he said, finding the clay token he had carved in art class for her in third grade. Padme had forgotten what he had been attempting to make, but it ended up as a cross between an hourglass and a rectangle with a few swirls and stars decorating the top.

"I could never get rid of it," Padme told him. "What about you?" she glanced at him, wondering if he had tossed away the things that reminded him of her.

Anakin shook his head. "I don't have everything tucked away in a neat little box," he told her and picked up a few scattered pictures. "I was such a dork," he chuckled.

"You're my dork," Padme affirmed teasingly, and turned towards him on the couch, hooking a leg over his. "The stories that I could tell.." she teased, not needing to finish the thought as she clung to his shoulder.

Anakin rolled his eyes as he held up a picture of her as a little kid wearing the most ridiculous outfit and pigtails. "I have the same amount of ammo, so go ahead, tell stories," he reminded her.

Padme bit his shoulder. "Mean," she pouted. She then laughed at another picture he held up from when they were kids.

They sat there, pouring over their shared memories, laughing, teasing each other, intermixed with touches and kisses. Padme didn't remember when she had moved from sitting next to and pressed up against Anakin, to straddling his lap as they abandoned reminiscing about their shared childhood to make out like a couple horny teenagers on the couch. Anakin's shirt had been tossed behind the couch at some point and Padme's hands couldn't stoproaming along his chest, his back, shoulders as they drank each other in. Anakin had one hand firmly cupping her ass, another under her shirt, fondling her breast as things got even more heated. Padme moaned into his ear as he kissed along her neck, trying not to leave any marks. As Padme leaned her head to the side, granting him more access to her neck, the five day stubble on his chin lightly scratched her skin.

"Does this live up to your dream?" he asked softly, his warm breath fanning her skin.

"I should've known that you would hyper focus on that," Padme said, leaning away and lightly smacking his shoulder. "Are you going to tease me about it?"

"Well, does it?" he asked with a grin.

With a roll of her eyes, Padme said, "Nope, not even close."

"Really?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow. There was a spark of interest in his eyes. "Tell me more."

"There's really nothing to tell," Padme protested with a nervous laugh. "I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"It was a sex dream, wasn't it?" Anakin asked, figuring it out with a gleam of triumph.

Irritated and embarrassed at the eagerness in his rather accurate deduction, Padme slapped his shoulder. "No! God, is sex the only thing you think about?" she snapped.

"You do know that you tend to get extra defensive when I'm right," Anakin informed her with a grin.

"I do not!" Padme argued.

"You do!" Anakin insisted, leaninging forward to nuzzle her neck.

Padme wasn't sure which irritated her more, the fact that he easily guessed at her dream, that he was so smug about it, or that she couldn't bring herself to stay mad at him when she was currently straddling his lap, both thoroughly aroused by the other's close contact.

"I dreamt about the night we shared our ACT scores. It was a memory, nothing more," she informed him matter-of-factly, despite the way she leaned into the feel of his lips on her neck.

"How erotic…" Anakin hummed drolly as he left featherlight kisses along her neck.

"It wouldn't be," Padme stated, glaring at him. "Because it wasn't a sex dream," she insisted and she could feel his grin against her skin.

"Funny, I don't recall kissing you back then," he pointed out, reaching up to move her hair out of his way.

Padme sighed as his mouth found the sensitive spot behind her ear. "Like you would have kissed me back then," she dismissed, sliding her fingers up, through his hair.

"You don't know that," he said, nipping the tip of her ear.

Padme leaned away slightly, her position on his lap shifting just enough to press even firmer against the hard bulge in his pants. "So you would have kissed me ten years ago?" she asked skeptically.

Something flashed in his eyes, too fast for her to decipher. "If you asked me to," he said nonchalantly, with a shrug of his shoulders.

Padme stared at him, trying to decipher what he kept hidden in his expression to no avail. "Really?" she questioned, trying to think back to ten years ago, before the fight. She had known Anakin better than she had known her own sister, would he really have kissed her back then?

With a roll of his eyes, Anakin returned his attention to her neck, his fingers trailing along her sides. Finding that spot behind her ear, he paused as he reminded her, "All you ever had to do was ask and I'd do it." He led a trail down the side of her neck as she leaned in. "Hey Anakin, wanna build a snowman?" he began in a mocking tilt of voice as he began to list all manner of requests. "Hey Anakin, can you help me study? Hey Anakin, wanna throw water balloons filled with dye at people? Hey Anakin, can you fix my computer? Hay Anakin, wanna sell pretzels at the Mummers Parade? Hay Anakin, can I hitch a ride with you across the country?" he punctuated each request with a kiss along her skin until he had made his way back up and along her jaw, hovering over her mouth. "Lets not forget the most recent, Hey Anakin, wanna have sex?"

Padme leaned back and narrowed her eyes at him. "So you're saying that your agency is compromised?" she challenged.

"Not at all. If I don't want to do something, I'm not going to agree to it," he returned.

"Except if it is something I ask you to do, apparently." Padme reminded him.

Anakin huffed and when his eyes met hers, Padme barely had time to catch the devious gleam behind cerulean irises. "Apparently in your dreams," he reminded her.

"Will you please forget about that stupid dream?" Padme asked with a huff.

"Nope, don't wanna." Anakin was like a bloodhound when he was hyper fixated on something and it appeared that he had chosen to fixate on her dream, much to Padme's frustration.

"Why are you so interested in my dream?" Padme asked.

"Why are you so cagy about a…"

"I swear if you say sex dream one more time, I'm going to get up and lock myself in my bedroom alone for the rest of the night," Padme threatened, preparing to move and make do on her threat.

"Okay okay," Anakin chuckled, locking his arms around her and securing her in place. "I'll be good, swear," he conceded.

Padme gripped his shoulders and gave him a speculative look. "You better," she told him and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"You know, there is no shame in having a sex dream, right?" he pointed out softly.

Padme sighed. "I never said that there was," she told him.

"Just admit it was a sex dream and I'll drop it," he offered. "Ow! Hey…" he yelped and then threw her a dirty look when she swatted the back of his head in response.

In a huff, Padme rose from the couch and would have turned away and walked into her bedroom to fulfill her threat if Anakin didn't cruse at the loss of bodily contact and jump up to grasp her arm. "Seriously?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry, I'm just teasing," he implored.

Padme crossed her arms and huffed. "It's not funny, Anakin."

"Actually, it's rather flattering," Anakin informed her.

Padme felt herself softening at this. Besides, what did she really have to feel so embarrassed by? "Fine, you're forgiven," she sighed.

"I feel privileged," Anakin chuckled, pulling her closer so that he could lean down and kiss her. "So, just tell me one thing, who do you like more? Me or dream Anakin?" he asked.

Instead of being annoyed with him, Padme just shook her head. "Well, dream Anakin is much nicer and definitely less cocky and insufferable," and chuckled at the mock offended look he threw at her.

"Is that all?" he drawled.

"Hmm," she hummed in thought. "Well, High School Anakin hadn't quite left the awkward lanky phase, I think there was still a trace of acne…"

"Awkward dork or not, still the same dick," he interrupted with a cocky grin.

Padme rolled her eyes at his interruption. "Yeah, yeah, you're hung like a horse… happy?" she huffed, feigning to be unimpressed.

"I don't know, should I start calling you Padme the Great?" he quipped, not missing a beat.

"Oh my god, you're awful!" Padme laughed, smacking his shoulder.

Anakin grinned. "You still found it funny," he pointed out.

"Shut up," Padme laughed, reaching up to pull him down for another kiss. When she pulled away, she turned around and led him back to the bedroom.

Hours later, Padme felt the need to hold onto him, feeling this sliver of insecurity that she couldn't shake. Anakin had already fallen asleep, and as Padme watched him, she saw slivers of the boy she used to know in his sleep. It was fascinating to see that his guard was only down in his sleep, showcasing the vulnerability of the boy she knew. Anakin held so much back now than he did while they were kids. It must be exhausting for him to constantly guard his thoughts and emotions from others, especially when doing so went against his nature. Padme could only ponder at why he bothered, what made him feel the need to be so guarded around others. A small insecure part of her questioned if it was just her, but the more rational side to her argued that it had to be something else. She could only hope that he would let her back in eventually.

Padme reached up to softly comb her fingers through his hair, careful not to wake him. Her fingers hovered over the healing wound next to his eye, already knowing that a scar was going to form , cutting into his eyebrow. Anakin had hissed earlier when she had touched it, so she knew that there was still some discomfort there. Her fingers next traced along his jaw, the scratchy feel of his unshaven skin conjuring the memory of the feel of it against her thighs. Anakin had paid special attention to the areas of her body she had complained about. Padme was sure that the skin along her inner thighs would bear a fair amount of distinctive bruising. Padme could only picture the hand imprints on her ass, if they were any at all.

Padme felt her body flush as she recalled the teasing comments comparing thick thighs to noise canceling headphones or how he would teasingly refer to her as Padme the Great over and over. The moment that Anakin kicked her bedroom door closed behind them, it was like a switch had gone off. Five days of sexual frustration, felt like five years and they fell into bed, getting lost in each other until sheer exhaustion took over.

Padme snuggled closer, feeling enveloped by Anakin's warmth. Beneath her cheek, she could hear Anakin's heart beating as his even breathing lulled her to sleep. A small, insecure part of her mind contemplated begging him to stay here with her forever. One thing was for certain, Padme couldn't bear it if she lost her best friend a second time and she prayed that what they were doing wouldn't facilitate a second loss.

---

End Authors Note:

I just could not resist giving Anakin his signature scar from ROTS.

Next chapter will feature Obi-Wan and Satine's wedding, which won't be posted until after the first of the year. After that the story is going to pick up as it begins to deviate from the inspiration for this fic. I'm really excited to be getting into the next few chapters because I started working on them immediately after I posted Chapter one. I'm feeling really proud of myself for refraining from giving away spoilers, anyone who knows me knows how difficult a task this is for me, lol.

A little nod to my late Great-Grandfather who, after his contract with the Army was up(just prior to the US entering WWII), worked as a security guard at the Philadelphia Navel Shipyard until his retirement while it was still operated by the military as one of the oldest military shipyards in the US. Also, he is for whom I've named Anakin's great-grandfather after in the previous chapter.

FYI: A few more hints were dropped leading up to the reveal of the source of Anakin and Padme's fallout. I'm also getting into some of their personal issues which will be a factor.