A/N: I so appreciate anyone reading this story, please enjoy this chapter. The opening scene is definitely one of my favorites for the entire fic. And it's officially date night for Anidala!
Padmé shuffled around the guest room, dressing, undressing, and redressing at least ten times before settling on an off-the-shoulder floral yellow dress. Somehow, the actual date crept up on her faster than anything else, even though the anticipation had been weighing on her for weeks. It felt like the end of a daydream, or a fever dream depending on her attitude, and also a crossroads for whatever was going to happen next. If things went to absolute shit tonight, it wasn't like she hadn't given it her best effort. In fact, she'd given it far more of an effort than she ever intended.
Seeing as though it was Anakin and the thought of dating the only man that had ever shattered her heart for a second time, a decade later, was the most laughable thing she could've ever come up with.
But life works in funny ways, didn't it?
For purely experimental reasons, she agreed to this dinner.
Right. That was it. For science.
Bullshit.
She agreed to this because she wanted to more than anything else. Because something in her lit up anytime Anakin laughed, smiled, crossed his arms against his chest and smirked. Something that had grown dimmer every day since he'd left the first time until she wasn't sure it would ever come to life again. Until it did, and that spark ignited in a way that was all too familiar and completely unknown.
She was surprised by the lack of contact she'd had with him since getting on the plane yesterday morning, not even receiving the rambling gushing messages she was growing accustom to before bed, nor a phone call this morning. No, he was being uncharacteristically quiet. That worried her slightly, but she tried to push the feeling away. Surely this wasn't a game to him after all the effort he'd put forth when it would have been so much easier to let her walk away? She would know tonight what he really wanted, though. It would be inescapable. Unavoidable.
She made her way back into the bathroom, spinning in a slow circle to evaluate her outfit in the mirror while she propped her phone up in the corner.
"I think I'm starting to have regrets," she said with a sigh. She pulled her flat-ironed hair over her shoulder to braid into an intricate loop for the umpteenth time, trying to make it perfect.
"It's too early in the night for regrets. Did you do your makeup like I told you, and did you go with the lavender or the deep blue?" Dormé asked, leaning into her camera. "That dress looks amazing."
Padmé stood on her tiptoes to lean into the mirror and finish painting her lips. She took one last glance at her eyeliner and the way she'd contoured her face. It was nothing overdone, just… Not what she typically did, and definitely not by herself. She didn't exactly feel like herself at the moment, but maybe that was a good thing. She could be whichever version of her wasn't terrified of the night ahead.
"Thank you. And yes, I did, but I don't know how you do this every day. My face feels… different." She wouldn't indulge the question over her lingerie, though she went with lavender after choosing the dress. It had done her no good to tell Dormé not to worry about it when she was instead met with breakfast and a small black bag from her best friend that morning anyway.
"But you look great! And Anakin isn't gonna know what to do with himself. Do you realize the way you look will make this man want you so bad it hurts?"
Padmé's cheeks burned at her friend's notion about what his prospective reaction was going to be. She had put little thought into what he would do or think until now. And now she was back to panicking.
"Dormé, I can't do this!" Padmé smacked her palm against the bathroom sink in a huff. "What was I thinking?"
Dormé took a deep breath and then shrugged. "Fine, then. Don't. See if I care. May be the only opportunity you have to live a little. Then it's back to the stuffy old Senate, the endless meetings, confirmations, votes. And, well, then… You're off to an announcement, the campaign, press conferences… Sure, there's an entire list of people who can't wait to date a candidate for President of the United States. In fact, I think my phone is—"
"Stop!" Padmé snapped. "I get it. I've come this far, might as well go all the way. Probably won't get this chance… Ever again."
Dormé clapped her hands together in a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry. Did Padmé Amidala Naberrie, my best friend and one of the most reserved women I've ever known, just say she's going all the way? On a first date?"
Padmé glared at Dormé, practically beaming back at her on the screen. "No. She didn't. You simply misheard, because I'm not going to do anything like that."
"I just don't understand why you keep denying yourself," Dormé said with a slow exhale. "Especially denying yourself someone like that. Because that man is built like some kind of God."
Padmé raised a finger to respond before Sabé rejoined their call, tapping her water bottle to the camera.
"Sorry, had to grab another. But here, here. I'll drink to that, and he clearly still wants you. He actually could not make that any more obvious, even for a guy."
Padmé rolled her eyes and turned her back. "You're both acting like there are no ramifications for this going any further and my agreeing to see Anakin in a deeply personal capacity after—"
"Christ. Padmé! He's a man. Not a policy proposal. You're talking about him and this date like you're running risk analysis for a healthcare bill!"
"I am running risk analysis, Sabé!" she hissed, pounding a fist softly on the countertop again and letting the bracelet in her hand fall. "I have to. Because everything Dormé just said is true enough, meaning who in their right mind is going to follow me on the trail? And for another—"
"Oh, shut up," Dormé groaned. "You're making excuses and there will always be one. Don't use your own cop-out excuse and put that on Anakin! You're such a damn politician, you make them up in your sleep."
"You're both getting on my last nerve. It's splitting right down the middle so you can each have your own little section," Padmé barked at both of her friends, who both laughed in response and made to toast themselves again.
Against what was probably her better judgment, the constant encouragement from her friends and her family was setting in. Not that she was giving any of them credit for it, but in the back of her mind, she mulled over her mother's original idea of taking them to the beach house. An insane thought, seeing as how the other thought in the back of her mind was to not go to his house in… She glanced at the time on her phone. 15 minutes. That didn't even consider that tonight could go completely off the rails, or that he would say no to her proposal, anyway. But she had her break at the beginning of October… She could move something around to spend at least a few of her 10 days with him…
God, what was she thinking? Their first dinner hadn't begun, and she was planning a fucking vacation.
"Hello? Earth to Padmé. Do you read me?" Sabé called out.
"Hmm?" Padmé offered, tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear.
"Hmm, she says. Someone's daydreaming! About a night with a certain younger, sexy soldier, maybe?" Dormé teased, a devilish smile on her face. "I don't blame you if you are. I'd be daydreaming of him myself if I weren't your most loyal friend. And I might anyway, even though I am."
"Would like to chime in and clarify she's in that boat alone. I would just like to admire from a distance and live vicariously through you," Sabé chimed in before the three of them erupted with laughter again. "Are you excited, though? Part of me is still shocked you agreed."
"Two things. First, I'm telling Javin on you, Dormé," she said, and Dormé quickly rolled her eyes. "And second, I'm starting to be. I'd be more excited if I wasn't so damn nervous."
"If he's anything like he used to be, and judging by everything that's happened, he definitely is. I can't think of any reason you're so nervous. The guy used to drool over you and how much has that really changed?" Dormé said, getting another laugh out of Sabé. "Are you sure you're not going to sleep with him? I mean… Come on!"
Padmé snapped her attention back to her phone screen. "Dormé!"
Not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind. Conscious, subconscious, unconscious. Awake, in her dreams, in her daydreams. Basically, he'd infiltrated just about every part of her brain and she already almost had jumped on him and stumbled onto any stable surface. More than once and she came extremely close before coming back to DC. But absolutely not. She wasn't that much of a stereotype to just go falling into his bed.
Sabé sighed with a shrug. "Dormé's not lying. No guy gets that handsy and close as Anakin wants to be to you and isn't thinking about sex. That's just the truth."
"Right, what she said. So, are you going to?"
Padmé stared at the both of them, staring back at her and waiting for a response. "Be that as it may… Anakin and I have hardly done anything other than kiss. A few times. And I don't sleep with guys on the first date! Ever," she chided.
"Well, that's just some holy man's level of self-control on his part… Maybe he took up meditation in the last ten years or something."
Sabé tapped her chin with her finger and tilted her head to the side. "Is it really still a first date if you used to bang him six-ways to Sunday as often as possible, making no effort to conceal or muffle a single minute of it?" she asked, causing Dormé to nearly spit out her water.
Padmé was sure her face was flaming now. These two weren't helping at all with her nerves. If anything, they were making it decidedly worse, especially recalling their time as roommates.
"Hey! It was… a rough time. In both our lives. We… Needed that," she murmured quietly. "Besides! The two of you didn't hold back either, and you know those walls were thin!"
Dormé laughed again. "Well fuck, in all my days, I have never needed someone as badly as the two of you needed each other. Maybe I should ask you for pointers instead of handing them out. Clearly, I am still doing something wrong."
"The walls of Fort Knox wouldn't have been able to contain that. And I've never had anyone do that thing he used to do to you to me. Even after all this time. So, maybe I'm doing something wrong, too," Sabé added with a waggle of her eyebrows. "If you ever decide to workshop this and host a seminar, let me know where I can buy tickets."
The both of them were idiots. She regretted any and every bit of information she'd shared with them, too, because evidently they forgot nothing.
"Can you imagine me hosting a seminar about sex?" Padmé said, covering her face. "I have got to be the least qualified person to do that."
Sabé puffed out her cheeks to keep from laughing, leaning over her crossed legs to hide her face before sitting up again and clapping her hands. "I feel like you'd sell out an arena just based on fascination. Also, not to interrupt the fun we're having—because embarrassing you is my favorite pastime—but you better hurry. Otherwise you're going to be late and Anakin knows you well enough to know you're never late for anything."
Padmé was glad to table that conversation for a later date. Later like… never while she made her great escape. It was just back to her original unnerved state over dinner, at least and not over the prospect of having sex.
"Okay, you're both probably right. How do I look?" She twirled herself around for her friends, leaning into the mirror to check her teeth and makeup one last time.
"Fantastic."
"Irresistible."
"God, it's been so long since I've been on a date… One I was actually looking forward to." She smiled, chewing her lip softly as what felt like butterflies moved through her body. "All right, I'll catch up with the both of you later. Love you, wish me luck!"
Both women responded in kind with well wishes. Dormé added a final note about remembering protection, which was advice she didn't need, but it made her roll her eyes and helped her escape from her thoughts for the moment. Only one thing left to do now…
Standing outside on his porch, her heart was suddenly in her throat. The palms of her hands feeling damp just waiting for him to appear before her eyes. She thought about how silly the entire situation was—to be that nervous about someone she probably knew best. And definitely someone who knew her better than anyone else. A first date, sort of, as Sabé had rightfully pointed out, with her first love. She rang the doorbell a good thirty seconds ago and… nothing. His truck wasn't in the drive, but surely it was in the garage? He had to be here, didn't he?
Right as her mind started moving at a thousand miles a minute and she thought she might actually throw up in the shrubs lining the small sidewalk to his porch, the door swung open and there he was.
Dressed in a dark maroon buttoned shirt, unbuttoned nearly to the center of his chest that somehow made him look put together rather than half-dressed, with a black undershirt and dark blue jeans. At least he dressed up, too. So maybe he was taking this as seriously as she was.
Anakin stood there, awkward and bordering on uncomfortably quiet, until his jaw finally slackened. He quietly stammered out the words that never failed to make her melt.
"Wow… Padmé. You are so… Beautiful. Thank you for coming."
She couldn't help the giddy smile that spread across her face until her cheeks hurt while he carefully took her hand and led her into his house.
"Thank you for inviting me," she said softly, running her thumb across his knuckles as she slipped her fingers between his. "And you look very handsome tonight."
He looked back at her and smiled. "I'm really glad you think so. I just try to keep up with you."
Whatever he was cooking smelled incredible, wafting through the air while he let go of her hand to hustle back toward the kitchen. Her stomach agreed, too, reminding her just how hungry she was. "I just have a few last-minute things. Please make yourself comfortable."
She glanced around his house while she walked behind him. The room was spotless, a shock compared to how her room used to look after she came home from the office to find him asleep. It always appeared like a small tornado had blown through, with his clothes and belongings scattered around the way he supposedly 'liked it.' Now he was a grown man, always the gentleman, who'd apparently cleaned the couch so thoroughly the leather shined in the light.
Even if she'd been there before, it was as if she noticed nothing that decorated the space. Either that or he'd rearranged since. Photos covered his walls, some from his childhood, with entire collages dedicated to pictures of Shmi. It hurt her heart to think back about their shared history over the loss of his mom. Or worse, their lack of shared history. A few military items set around, surrounded by photos she couldn't make out but she assumed to be him with his friends and fellow members, and one striking photo of him shaking the President's hand. That one she wanted for herself, even if it was a just a photo she snuck later. She didn't have to be close to it to know how handsome he looked.
Padmé leaned on the doorway of the entrance to his kitchen, watching while he moved over to the stove to check on the food. "What did you make, Ani?"
"Uh… It's just a fettuccine alfredo. With chicken. But I didn't put any meat in it, in case you don't want to have it. I couldn't remember if you eat that sort of thing, so—"
She laid her hand on his lower back, directing his attention her way. "You can relax tonight. And my favorite food these days is usually a greasy hamburger on the road, so please plate me the chicken. I appreciate your being considerate, though."
His cheeks were tinged pink, whether from hard work or in embarrassment, she wasn't sure. He was so damn thoughtful, though, and had gone to the trouble of keeping the meat separate just in case. Could he be any sweeter? And did he always look this good, or was it just tonight?
"Oh. Okay. Good," he said stuttered out with a head nod. "I also… There's a bottle of wine if you want a glass? It's a… Pinot… Grigio?"
He stumbled a bit over his pronunciation, causing her to suppress a giggle. The corners of her mouth turned up as she nodded before stepping away. She casually dragged her fingers across his back as she moved and noted the tiny wiggle he made. Maybe she was the one making him nervous. If only he knew how fast her heart was beating, too.
"Sounds wonderful. Did you want a glass? I can pour while you fix our plates? Unless it isn't ready and then I can just bring the bottle in here?" She glanced back at him while walking into his dining room. He'd dimmed the lights and set two candles out to be lit. It was all very… romantic, far more than she'd expected.
"No, it's ready. I'll bring it in there. Just have a seat."
She took the opportunity to light the candles herself and poured him a small glass of wine. She sat opposite him in front of the decorative placemat placed on the light wooden table and arranged her dress more comfortably beneath her. The light-colored wine swirled around the glass with her fingers gripping the base before she gave hers the same treatment and took a moment to smell it before taking a sip. White wine wasn't normally what she went for, but this was… Delicious. Wherever it had come from, she wanted to know. Along with who had given him the entire idea since the Anakin she knew was far from a wine drinker. He'd shaken her from her thoughts as he waltzed back in with plates in hand and set one in front of her.
"And dinner is served, milady," he said in a low voice, with a small bow that made her laugh.
"You're so stupid." She grinned, taking another sip. "It looks really lovely in here, Anakin."
He settled in his seat and followed her eyes around the room. "I wanted it to be as lovely as you are." She glanced at him and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from laughing as a faint red brushed his cheeks once more. He ran a hand down the back of his neck and smiled bashfully. "Th—that sounded way better in my head. I swear."
"It didn't sound that bad out loud," she offered as he turned his face away. "But regardless, you did a great job. And look at this food! I really didn't know you could cook like this, and this wine—I want to know where it came from so I can buy a bottle for home. Honestly, this is… It's all wonderful. Really."
"It wasn't any trouble. I really wanted to do this for you."
The smell of his cologne making its way to her, the ambiance in the soft light, and his eyes catching hers every time she looked up was almost overwhelming her with the thought and work he'd put into it all, and she hadn't even taken a bite yet.
He snaked his hand across the table and grabbed hers. The fork in her hand clattered against her plate as he caught her off guard, but she quickly responded to meet him and twine their fingers together again. The both of them ate in the comfortable quiet.
With anyone else, it would have been incredibly awkward. One of those dates where she waited for the chair to swallow her whole, or where she excused herself to frantically ask Dormé to find her an out if she couldn't permanently excuse herself to the restroom. The desperation of doing anything to get away. When she was with Anakin… It only gave her more time to soak it in.
The meal, the wine, the company—she had no choice except to trust her instincts and give this the fair shot she'd promised. She returned his advances and worked to relax and settle her nerves the longer she sat and watched him. However, being there with someone she already knew, intimately and otherwise, was a little strange. None of the typical first-date conversation really applied. She knew so much about him, had learned so many new things in the past few weeks, and such a large portion of her life was public that he probably knew more about her than she did about herself. The rest of their newfound 'friendship' was built on merciless teasing, which seemed inappropriate for the setting.
He looked at her, drawing a noodle rather indelicately into his mouth. "Well? How is it?"
She lifted her hand to cover her face as she chewed the last of her chicken. "Very, very good. I didn't know what to expect when you said you were going to cook for me, but it wasn't this. What do you think?" She took her other hand out of his to wipe her mouth before setting the napkin back in her lap. He'd drawn his hand back and without it, she wasn't sure what to do with her own until she folded them in front of her and leaned forward in her elbows.
He set his fork on his plate, swallowing the last of his wine. "I think I've seriously outdone myself."
She had to laugh at him now. What an Anakin thing to say.
"Oh, I guess you're just a professional chef now, too? Did you get bored with all of your other hobbies?"
"And is that supposed to mean you're such a fantastic chef yourself that you can't be blown away with my culinary skills?"
Some days she was too exhausted to even boil water, so there was absolutely no judgment on her behalf. But that did notmean Anakin wasn't full of shit. There was no way he had 'culinary skills.' Especially not when he phrased it like that.
She rolled her eyes, turning her head to rest her chin on her palm before looking at him again. Her eyes narrowed. "You're such a liar. Who taught you how to make all this?"
His lip twitched before he turned his head and grinned. "Oh shut up, Padmé. I tried, okay?"
She chuckled while he ran a hand through his short curls and laughed at himself. Padmé tilted her head toward him, still smiling, as she softly bit her lip. "Well, whoever it was, please tell them thank you. Because you sure know how to make a girl feel special."
Maybe it was just the wine working through her system, but she swore he seemed to glow in the candlelight while a slow warmth spread through her body. It radiated lower each time he caught her eyes and held her attention with blue eyes a little darker than usual, peering into her brown ones rather than flicking away. Was it the wine or was the temperature actually rising in the room?
"You are special. To me. You always have been and you deserve this."
His voice was like velvet and that radiating heat now moved lower in her belly and oh no, that could not be happening. He really needed to stop looking at her like that or he was going to make a liar out of her next. Everything she'd said to her friends, all those promises about what she did or did not do on dates, including one to her sister, who gave her that same questioning look. She wasn't going to sleep with him, because that would be ridiculous. She just had to change the subject.
Immediately.
"So, how did you end up back in Boston?"
He perked up at that, completely changing his relaxed posture and squaring his shoulders again. Whew, a relief. Because moments ago, pouncing on him from across the table was looking plausible…
"Oh, well… This is a really stupid reason, actually. I didn't know where to go exactly and me—always the adventurer—told them I had a house here when it was time for me to update my address and contact information. So, I had to get a house here as fast as I could. Then that practically forced Owen and Beru—that's my stepbrother and his wife, not sure if you knew that—out of their place a while ago."
Did he just say he ended up here on accident?
"I did. Know about Owen."
"Sola? Or your parents?"
"Both, actually." She paused while he nodded, nerves springing up again that she may have made this awkward.
"That's fair. I figured you knew something."
She laid her hand palm up on the table and wiggled her fingers until he placed his on top of hers. "Wait a minute, though. Back up. What do you mean, you forced them out? Were they not… selling the house?"
Anakin choked out a laugh, the biggest smile overtaking the lower half of his face. "I told you it was ridiculous!"
"Ani, that is ridiculous. Why did you have to buy their house?" She grinned, unable to hold back her own amusement.
"Because! I sort of panicked, and this was the only address I could think of in the moment."
He was as red as she'd ever seen him, and now avoiding her eye contact like it was his job. She couldn't believe him right now. He forced his poor brother out of the house because he couldn't think of anything better to say? Wasn't there any kind of verification process? A piece of mail, maybe?
"The only address? What if you would have given them… I don't know. My parents instead, by being off a single number? Couldn't you just have been honest with whoever was doing the paperwork?"
"Look! I could have. Maybe. But it was too late! I had to commit to my poor planning and there was no looking back. My buddy Obi-Wan gave me so much crap about this. For weeks. And he threatened to tell them what I did just so everyone else could laugh at me! Luckily, Owen and Beru were already looking to move, since they were about to have their baby and wanted more room all on one level. So, y'know. All's well that ends well?"
"All's well that ends well, indeed. Lucky for you." Padmé simply shook her head, since there was no better thing to be doing with the outrageous story he'd just told her. One she wasn't sure she even believed, but also seemed fathomable from the other tales he'd told. "And now did you just say you have a friend named… Obi-Wan?"
He put a hand over his face, nodding slowly. "God… Yeah, okay, so… Kenobi. Most people don't actually call him Obi-Wan. But yeah, I don't know. In his family, they just have weird names. His dad's Qui-Gon and that somehow made his name seem normal."
"Kenobi…" She stared at him while mulling it over in her head. Kenobi? Where had she heard that name before? "I don't know why that sounds so familiar to me. It'll come to me. Anyway, Anakin isn't exactly a common name, is it?"
"Oh, and I guess Padmé is?" He cocked an eyebrow.
She rose one in return and made him grin before falling back into the familiar quiet. "Touché."
His fingertips raked over her palm, slowly drawing circles in the center while they focused on each other.
"This is really nice," he whispered, touching his fingertips to hers before she lifted her hand to lie against his again. "I really can't tell you how happy I am you're here."
"It is nice. And you could try," she said with a small smile.
"Don't think there are enough words in the English language to get my point across. But… There's no one like you around." He stood to take her plate and Padmé rose after him, collecting their glasses before following him into the kitchen. "Trust me. I've been all around the world and I've never known anyone else like you."
"I could say the same."
Padmé ran her hands down his sides while he set the dirty dishes in the sink before pressing her body into his back while she gave him a hug. She'd been all over the country, and a few times outside of it. And no one had ever made her feel like Anakin did. The spark, the attraction, the connection, or the sheer power or weight of his words and the feelings behind them. No one even came close.
He turned himself around and took a gentle hold of her wrist when she turned to leave. "Wait."
She tensed at first before turning to him and cautiously stepping closer, face to face. "Yes?" she answered, laying her hand on his chest and feeling his pectoral flex briefly under her touch.
He dropped her arm and slowly lowered his hand to settle on her waist. Padmé quickly flashed her eyes down and back up, willing herself to stay calm while the warmth of his hand did unnecessary things to her heart rate and sent a small tingle down her spine.
"I just wanted a minute to look at you. You are the most stunning woman I've ever seen… In all of my life. Still."
She blushed, tucking her chin to her chest to escape his eyes. It had been so long since anyone looked at her the way Anakin was right now. Actually, if she thought about it, had anyone ever looked at her that way? Maybe not. Or been so vocal about what he felt whenever he felt it? Definitely not.
Padmé was so used to compliments, they had a tendency to sound like noise. Empty thoughts that rolled off the tongue in practiced fashion. A nicety. But there was something different coming from him. Everything was…
She slowly ran her hand up over his shoulder and down his arm. The low, growling noise in the back of his throat stirred something deep inside her in the same dangerous way. Padmé leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his chin for the briefest moment. With his hand in hers, she took a step backwards and hoped he complied. "You are the sweetest man around. And I don't know what you had planned for after dinner but… Did you want to watch a movie? Or talk for a while? Both?"
"I didn't really plan. I wasn't sure if you'd actually come or want to stay and I didn't want to overdo it if you didn't."
He didn't want to overdo it? This is what underdone looked like to him? She wanted to look around again and point out that this was way more trouble than was necessary for a woman who very much wanted to be there. She reserved herself, especially of the thoughts that immediately came to mind and hoped her expression didn't reveal her being stunned. Did he really think so little of her she would blow him off like that? Stand him up? She would've never said yes. Would have never even imagined of telling Saché to clear the schedules, stayed another night in town, or made a purchase with Dormé's ridiculous Black card if she was going to just eat his food and run. And she definitely wouldn't be this anxious. She'd fretted over every reapplication of her lipstick, or touch-up to her foundation, and this man had the audacity to think she was going to leave that easily.
"Anakin. I would have never proposed this and accepted if I didn't want to be here with you." She leaned in again and laid her hand against his cheek. "And, if that was your version of asking my opinion… I'm okay if we do both. I'd like to talk to you now that we're here together and not constantly over the phone."
She gently traced his cheekbone with her thumb, toeing the line with her affection, but she… wanted to. She wanted to take him in her arms and hold him, feeling his arms wrapped around her and his body pressing into hers, just as he had been trying to do on every other occasion. Now he had the space and the time—and her free invitation—and he hesitated more than ever, standing still and cold as a statue. It did not calm her. A growing part of her was hoping he'd start returning those gestures soon enough.
It wasn't like she wanted him to maul her or anything. But if he wanted to grab her a little tighter, maybe… Kiss her more than a couple times?
He nuzzled her palm with his cheek and turned his face to kiss her hand. "Whatever you want, you just lead the way and I'll follow. You know your way around here."
"Then let's go," she tilted her head, walking backwards through the dining room to blow out the candles. With an elbow pointed at the couch, she started to ask a question about where to sit when he pulled her into his chest and took her face in his hands.
Padmé swore she could feel his gaze as her breath caught. His eyes scanning her face for confirmation, for affirmation, for a promise before they lingered on her lips.
He swallowed hard and loosened his hold, but she didn't give him the chance to let her go. She took a firm hold of the collar of his dress shirt and brought his face down to hers.
"Please. Yes. I know what you're thinking and yes. Do it."
"I'm going to kiss you then," he said definitively, as if she had anything to retort. As if she wanted to. Rather, she almost whimpered in agreement, eyes closing as she waited helplessly for it.
One large hand came around the back of her neck and held her firmly while his soft lips landed on hers. Warm, and tender, and eager. The intrusive thoughts that had been filling her head evaporated until all that was left was Anakin. Anakin. Anakin.
They held each other and poured words that had yet to be uttered into the movement of their lips, crushing any doubts that existed and making certain the promises that were questioned. There were a lot of things she didn't know, and plenty of time left in the night to figure them out. For that moment, time had rewound itself to a decade earlier and much simpler nights. Her Ani. His angel.