Padmé woke up a little earlier, yes, the normal physiological needs when you have eaten too much the night put wood on the embers that hadn't gone out yet because Anakin got up once at night to keep the fire going. They had already perfected that.

Anakin brought an old aluminum espresso maker, and it was standing on the stove top now, full of coffee. The whole room smelled of coffee.

Nothing is better in the morning than being woken up by the smell of coffee. Good morning."

"Good morning, Anakin. I don't want to ask if you slept well, considering how hard our beds are."

"I assure you, I would rather be ...with someone, in a comfortable bed." A cheeky grin spreads across his face, a pleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach and images in his head that will probably never become reality.

"When you get home, this is what will be waiting for you."

"Yes, the bed. I have a super soft king size bed... all for myself only."

"I also have a soft king size bed and I'm alone... except for those five nights."

"Oh, stop it. I have the picture."

"Good. I'll make something to eat and then we can go. Eggs and lot of bacon for energy."

After breakfast, they packed up everything they needed and locked up. Anakin carefully strapped his Remington over his shoulder so that wouldn't slip. He loved this precision rifle and knew how important it was to have it in the wilderness. When they set off, the sun had already risen, and you could just see it above the horizon at an angle of 3. However, the darkness had disappeared. Even though the temperature was higher by a few degrees than day before, it was still freezing cold. There was no fresh snow, the tracks of their runners from yesterday were untouched and clearly visible, the station was easy to find, even without GPS.

When they arrived at the meteorological station, they immediately started with assembly of the part two. Padmé sorted the elements which were needed to be attached, and gave them to Anakin. It went quickly. The hygrometer was the last instrument. She put everything together, all that was missing was a ring which had to be inserted between two fastening plates. She placed the hygrometer on the lid of the box and started looking for the ring. When she found it, she wanted to give it to Anakin, but she slipped, the ring fell down and started to roll down the slight slope. After about ten yards it came to a stop in the snow. Padmé ran down and fortunately found the ring immediately. She bent down to pick it up….

"Get down !" Anakin screamed as loud as he could.

He had already put his Remington on his shoulder and... all the training, all the strategies, all the tactics, all the techniques, every tip, every heartbeat and breath... were compressed into a second. He pulled the trigger and the .340 Weatherby Magnum soft-point bullet left the barrel. The big bear was lying on the ground. Anakin assumed that the bear could get up, so he quickly repeated, and when the bear actually got up, the next shot followed and immediately afterwards another. The bear was dead.

When Anakin screamed "Get down !", Padmé didn't know what was going on. She raised her head and saw one big bear running towards her. The bear was only about 30 yards away. She froze... and then she heard a shot, very loud. The bear fell, but it got back up. She fell backwards and started crawling. Then another shot rang out, and another. The bear was on the ground, for good.

Two strong arms lifted her up. She didn't say anything, just trembled. No, she was shaking. Anakin held her against him and didn't let her go. He gently rubbed her back up and down until she calmed down somewhat.

"That was close." Pause. "Come, take place on the box here, I'll manage it myself and get it running. Just stay here, close to me, and don't go away."

For Padmé, that was the shock of her life. Although she was aware that this was the habitat of bears, and that they were intruders, she had never imagined such an encounter, or she believed that all bears slept through the whole winter. However, Anakin was there, shot the bear, quickly and without missing the target. She owed him her life, a life that she would gladly dedicate to him and share with him, but like this, she will have to be content with thanking him. Maybe Sheev will want to reward him generously...as if that meant anything to Anakin. He didn't want a reward, he wanted her...maybe. All the signals were there...and all in vain and too late and damn it, she loved him so much.

Anakin was finished, everything worked. Padmé didn't even notice, she just sat there, frozen.

"Weather station is up and running. Come on, Padmé, let's pack up and go."

As if on autopilot, they put the tools and laptop in the box, closed it and put it on the trailer. Anakin strapped his Remington onto his shoulder, sat up, Padmé behind him and hugged him tightly. They were in the trappers' cabin after a short time.

There was little that was carried inside. It was still warm in the hut, but more wood had to be put on. Anakin brought in a few more logs, so that there would be enough for the whole night and immediately put some on the embers. They took off their thick jackets as well as boots and thermal pants. No one said anything. Padmé sat down on the bed.

"I'll cook today, but first tea time. Lie down until I'm finished." He said worriedly, seeing how confused she was. When the water was boiling, he poured in some Assam and left it to steep for four minutes. In the meantime, he made cucumber and salmon sandwiches, put a few biscuits on the plate and put the cups on the table.

She stood up and, unexpectedly for him, put her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Flashback: ...that feeling...familiar...second by second...and gone again...

He hesitated for a second, but then he pressed her against him and put a kiss on her forehead. With one hand, he held her head under his chin. "For a moment I thought I had lost you." He took her face with both hands, forcing her to look up at him. "Never do that again. You must stay close to me."

"I won't, I promise. You saved my life, Anakin, I owe you my life."

"You are not owed anything to me, you are alive, that's all that matters."

"You shot the bear so skilfully, with three shots, without missing the Target."

"I was a Marine, Padmé, that's where you learn to shoot."

Of course, he hadn't told her that he was trained as a scout sniper, who was used as a specialist to specifically kill enemy leaders, radio operators, dispatchers, reconnaissance officers and other key figures...what he did. It was war...in Afghanistan.

Sometimes, even today, the images of horror flicker, and he wonders why he did that to himself. Back then, he just wanted to get away, to forget something that couldn't be forgotten: love and guilt. And when he came back, she was still there, beautiful as ever and unattainable. Or so he thought. She was a daughter of rich parents, and he was studying on a half scholarship. That was why he didn't dare to try to win her over, even though he loved her. And later, when he decided to give it a try, she suddenly married... an even richer man, one of the richest men in the United States. Life goes on, right?

They stood there in embrace, in a lonely trapper's cabin at the end of the world, no one in sight for a hundred miles, emotions overflowing, and they will remain strangers or just friends, with fragmentary memories of a night that happened and yet didn't. Not important, it's too late anyway.

"When I think about it, I think we could have both died."

He wanted to, but he should not say it...I can imagine dying with you, but not living without you...so it remained unspoken.

"Our tea is getting cold. I've put on Assam, one of my favorites."

"It is also my favorite… one of favorites."

The afternoon was pretty quiet, they had enough excitement. They had both washed and dressed as usual when Anakin suggested: "I'll call Aayla and Ploky, get some rest."

"Ploky?"

"Yes. You didn't know that is what Plo Koon is called?

"No. Sounds funny." She smiled. "Do you think they won't suspect anything if you call now?"

"Firstly, I am your deputy, and secondly, I will say that you have a headache, are in bed and rest."

"You'd lie for me?"

"I'd do a lot more than lie for you."

"You're flirting again."

"I need to cheer you up," and grinned.

She just shook her head and then she actually lay down. Anakin tidied up and rummaged through the food chest, pondering the possibilities of what he could cook. "What do you think about... spaghetti Bolognese?"

"I love it."

"Well, spaghetti Bolognese for Milady."

"Anakin!"

"What?"

"You make me laugh."

"Exactly what I want. I don't want you to just think about what happened. It's over."

"How's it possible to let it go so quickly?"

"That's what I was trained to do. If I allowed what had happened to dominate my thoughts, if I pondered whether it was right and whether it could have turned out differently, I would go crazy. When something is over, it is over and you can't change it. As they say: all's well that ends well. Then there is even no reason to think about it."

"It's the shock, Anakin. It hurt me physically, too. That adrenaline rush knocked me out."

"I know, but now I'm going to call Aayla and Ploky, and then I'll cook."

He had received good news from his colleagues, everyone was on schedule, everything will be finished by tomorrow and they will meet in Anchorage as planned.

Padmé watched Anakin as he skilfully chopped the onions and garlic, mashed the meat, added tomato paste and fresh tomatoes, stirred and seasoned. She could see that he enjoyed cooking. She thought that one day he will be a good husband to his wife, but she will not be that lucky one... Aayla Secura, maybe... if she tried hard, perhaps he would give in, she is an attractive woman. Who knows? She can't expect anything more, she had missed her chance, but she can't stop loving him. It hurts so much and more and more. She lay there, curled up, quiet and full of the pain of her heartache.

"Padmé, are you OK?"

"Yes. I'm just resting, like you said."

"Good. We can eat soon."

So ended their day, with a delicious dinner and one reading hour.

"Good night, Padmé."

"Good night, Anakin."

Padmé hardly slept that night. She kept waking up with images of the bear in her mind. She got up and put wood on the fire, even three times.

Anakin slept peacefully, she almost envied him. Tomorrow will be the last day, the last day with him. She will miss the days in Alaska, she will miss him … and thought, it would be so good if she could find comfort in his arms now.

..

Best regards from Germany