IMAGE

Tsum-Tsum T-shirt, by Disney
WALLPAPER

Untitled
by Grant Gould (for StarWars.com)

FAN ART
by master--burglar
by master--burglar
FAN FICTION
Rush
by Love and Rock Music. (TCW) The first half of "Destroy Malevolence," as Anakin and Padmé make their way towards each other.

P/A SITE
The Anakin and Padmé Gallery

CALENDAR
Desktop Calendar // March/April 2015

 


FAN FICTION : ATTACK OF THE CLONES ERA

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A Secret it Shall Be
Chapter 1/2

by rinabina

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Disclaimer: George, it's all his. Not mine. It never will be, but if it was I'd have met Hayden by now. :-(

Summary: So ya, I was perusing through my stories the other day and I read A Secret it Shall Be and I thought, "Hmm, self, this story really sucks. I'm going to re-vamp it." So voila...revamped story. This time I brought the stupid point of the title into the plot in the first chapter...so we'll se how far this goes. Please r/r and enjoy!!

***

It was dark in the medical chamber on the Royal Naboo Cruiser. Only the lights of the various computer screens and bacta stations lit the room. Small, round, fluorescent lights littered the walls but the room still remained dark. The medical droid rolled from its patient to the computer and plugged itself in, logging the process of the injured man.

Subject: Human, Male.

Name: Anakin Skywalker

Injury: Severed limb; arm, above elbow.

Treatment: bacta immersion, prosthetic limb.

Materials: bacta steel, bacteria armored wire. Prosthetic skin to be placed at a later date.

Status: Stable

When finished, the droid backed into its niche in the wall and shut down for a rest cycle, leaving its patient cold, numb, and lonely on the medical table. Anakin Skywalker shivered as the room grew still, quiet, and cold. His Jedi robes lay crumpled in a heap across the room and he was dressed only in his long, woolen pants. Anakin ran his hands up and down his bare arms.

Anakin sighed and observed more of his surroundings. He didn't even know how he got on Padmé's ship, who was flying it, and what happened to him after the accident. His memory was limited to glimpses of a battle; flashes of lightsabers, searing pain above his elbow, Obi-Wan's trembling leg underneath Anakin's unconscious head, and someone's warm embrace. It had all seemed like a dream.

He had never felt so alone. His master had always been with him; watching him, consoling him, comforting him. And now, where was his beloved master? He had no idea where Obi-Wan was. His mother, the guiding light that had always comforted him was burnt out, extinguished by those who he had brutally murdered only a day previous.

And Padmé?

The heavens only knew where Padmé was. Most likely she had been shuttled away on one of the clone ships to Coruscant, ready to make another speech, ready to leave their vows of love behind on the dirty planet, now parsecs behind them. Tears welled up in Anakin's eyes; tears full of anger, hurt, and sadness. He had waited so long to hold her in his arms. So long. And he had for those glorious, brief moments on Naboo. He had held her as if they were lovers, as if they were supposed to hold each other so.

He had kissed her, tenderly and soft, as he had dreamed countless times in his head, and it had been better than he imagined. The knowledge and feeling of her kissing him back was enough to give him the highest enlightenment any man could attain.

But those days were gone now. A swift three-day love affair. Obi-Wan was right, she was only a senator, using him for the convenience of her life and campaign. Perhaps Padmé wasn't the angel he envisioned. Perhaps the beautiful, innocent girl he'd met ten years ago had grown up into an entirely different person. Beautiful, yes, but cold and empty just like every other politician.

He lifted his hands to his face to cry, but stopped instantly as the cold tips of his droid arm reached his skin. He recoiled with a strangled cry and stared angrily at his hand. A cruel twist of wire and metal filled the space where his real flesh and bone should have been. Now he wasn't even a man. He had broken the Jedi code, broken his mandate, and now he was void of his own self, his own pride. Who would blame Padmé for forgetting him?

The door to the medical chamber opened, the swish echoing off the walls. Anakin looked away, hiding his tears and ready to shout angry words at whoever came to tend to him. He wanted to be alone to mourn the loss of himself and his love.

Quickly he lifted his head, but his breath caught in his throat and his eyes filled with more tears. It wasn't Obi-Wan, Yoda, or any Jedi for that matter. It wasn't a droid, or human even. It was an angel.

"Padmé..." he murmured shakily as he began to cry tears of relief. His angel had returned to him.

She hurried into the room, stopping tentatively before him. Her cinnamon hair hung loose at her back, molded into tendrils from the coils that had adorned the nape of her neck on Geonosis. She had shed her tattered, white jumpsuit and now wore a simple, lilac shift. The neckline scooped gracefully, leaving her shoulders bare, but gathering in tufts at her wrists. "Anakin," she said in a soft voice, as if asking for permission to come near. When receiving no answer besides his gently crying, she stepped between his legs and placed her hands on his thighs. "Are you alright?"

He nodded and bowed his head. How could she want to be near him, now that he was part robot? He would never be whole for her. Never.

The gentle pressure of her fingers under his chin lifted his head. Anakin met Padmé's eyes, filled with worry, sadness and brimming tears. "Oh Ani," she sighed, bringing her fingers to his face, running them over the contours of his skin. "Don't cry."

Anakin leaned into her touch, covering her hand with his. "You're here," he said finally, placing his other hand behind her neck, under the warm blanket of her hair.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she shook her head in disbelief. "Of course I'm here," she remarked slowly. Resuming the movement of her hand along his skin she added, "Why wouldn't I be?"

He looked down at his arm once again, the sight burning his eyes with shame. "Because of this," he spat more to his arm than to Padmé.

"Oh," she sighed, lovingly; taking it in both her hands and holding it close to her heart. "Why would something like this change the way I feel for you?"

"Then you meant what you said?" he asked, leaning closer to her. "In the arena."

Padmé lifted her eyes, meeting his once again.

"That you loved me?"

"Anakin," she scolded with a whisper, pressing her forehead against his, "never could I hide such feelings again. Never."

"Padmé," he said again in tears before covering her lips with his. Padmé deepened the kiss, slowly moving her lips over his, kneading them against her own. He lowered his hands and slid them around her back, wanting to pull her closer, but Padmé cried out sharply in pain and Anakin pulled his arms away.

She placed a hand tenderly on her back and Anakin gaped in realization. "The nexu."

Turning around once more she smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry yourself. I'm fine." She then stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his back, pressing her body against his in a warm, loving embrace.

Anakin carefully wrapped his arms around her again, holding her tight. He closed his eyes and tried to feel everything. Lowering his head, he nestled it in the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of her hair. He could feel the pressure of her head against his shoulder and the softness of her breasts against his chest, under which her heart pounded with his. The warm, soft pulses of her breath beat against his bare skin and he shook as more emotions ran wild through his soul.

"I can't bear to lose you again," he said into her hair.

"You'll never lose me," Padmé assured him, kissing his cheek. "We vowed to love each other forever." She paused then spoke his name, sadness once again filling her voice. "Anakin?" Stepping back, she ducked her head to meet his eyes.

"What is it?"

Padmé looked down at his feet. "What are we to do when we return to Coruscant, or even Naboo?" Looking up again she blinked away a tear. "No one can ever know."

"I don't care about that anymore," was the reply as he took her hands in his and pressed them to his lips.

"But you must."

"Why?" he asked, lowering their hands. "Because it will destroy us?" When seeing her nod, Anakin dropped down from the table. "It will destroy us if we take the time to hide our love, or if we have to sacrifice our time together to be apart." He shook his head. "I cannot live like that."

"Ani, that's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible."

"Anakin please!" Padmé cried, pulling away. "Stop it! You know we can't disregard our lives. My career, yours, the Jedi Code, my power in the Republic?"

Anakin backed away, hurt and rejected.

Her voice softened. "Anakin," she pleaded, stepping closer, but he only pulled away further. "Our love is important, far more important than our careers, do not think that I don't feel that. But we can't let them think that. We can't-"

"Why can't we forget them?" he shouted, spreading his arms.

"Forget who?"

"Our careers. If you love me so much, why can't you forget about them?"

Padmé dropped her jaw and lowered her eyebrows. "Because I can't!" she shouted back. "Neither can you Anakin, you know we can't. We're both a part of something so important to our survival." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "You've wished for so long to become a Jedi. It's your dream Ani, and if it's your dream it's mine too. I won't let you give it up for me."

At her words Anakin looked up, face softening. "My dream of being a Jedi ended the day I found that you couldn't share it with me."

Padmé wavered for a minute, then whispered, "Ani, please-"

"I know we can't disregard our lives, but..." he closed his eyes and swallowed his anger. "If we can't leave our lives behind, at least...at least be my wife."

"Your wife?" she asked, astonished at his idea. "Stop joking Anakin."

"I'm not!"

Padmé shook her head. "But what difference would it make? We could never live together, have a family-"

"Perhaps some day."

She looked up at him once again. "I don't understand."

Anakin reached out his arms and wrapped them around her waist. "If we can't be bonded physically, let us at least be bonded spiritually." He lowered his head and spoke softly. "I want the knowledge in my heart that the woman I've loved for ten years loves me just as much."

"But you have it," she insisted, placing her hand over his heart. "You must know-"

"But how long will it last if we have nothing holding us together? Why bother to sacrifice so much if nothing will ever become of it?"

Padmé remained silent and Anakin lifted her hand from his chest, holding it tenderly within his own. "You told me your love for me was a puzzle." He paused and squeezed her hand. "Let us sort it our together."

Padmé narrowed her eyes, searching inside for the answer he so longed to hear. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, beating against his ribcage with the force of a charging reek. Stepping closer still, she pressed her lips against their clasped hands. "And if we get caught?"

"Then we face the consequences together."

She closed her eyes as the thoughts of their punishment and humiliation ran rampant in her head. "And if we must leave each other," she spoke, voice strangled with fear.

Anakin swallowed hard, the possibility hanging heavy in his mind. "Then," he said, voice filled with confidence, "we continue our lives with the memory of the love we shared and shall never forget."

Padmé remained silent, eyes closed tight. Anakin pulled her closer still, bringing his lips to her ear. "Marry me Padmé," he asked again, this time in a bare whisper. "Be my wife. Let me care for you and love you as no one has, or ever will. I want nothing more from life than to wake up each morning with you by my side." She shook in his arms as she began to cry. Her hands slipped from his and wrapped around his neck.

"I've loved you since the moment we met, and if there are obstacles in the way, so be it. I knew you were the one who I would marry the moment you walked into Watto's shop, and I won't let anything get in our way."

"Then let us face these obstacles," Padmé said, lifting her head and wiping her eyes. "Let us face them as husband and wife."

Anakin let out the breath he was holding and smiled. "I'll make you happy," he said, cupping her face in his hands. "I'll take care of you, and protect you Padmé, I promise you this."

"I know," she said with a smile.

"I love you so much."

"And I love you Anakin," Padmé said in return, her hands still around his neck.

"We have an eternity of love to spend together," Anakin said, kissing her forehead. Let us start it as soon as possible."

"Tonight," she whispered. "At the lodge on Naboo."

"And we'll keep it a secret," he whispered.

"Yes," she nodded as his lips neared hers. "A secret it shall be."

***

Ok, well, that was my mad vision I got one day. I wrote like a madwoman for like a half an hour and it turned into this. So, I'm debating continuing this. I think I'll just leave it how it is for now. Maybe I'll "re-vamp" some of my other chapters too, and post them. We'll see! Thanks for reading!

p.s. You can always send your comments to rjmd_h@pacbell.net if you have suggestions or stuff. Not a problem at all! I'd love to hear from ya!

--->continued in chapter 2

 
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