The Moons of Iego: The Padmé Amidala & Anakin Skywalker Website

FAN FICTION : ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

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The Anakin Skywalker Diaries
Part Three: Naboo

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The flight to Naboo was only one day long. Naboo and Tatooine were fairly close together. The Force had placed them that way, so that when the hyperdrive on Padmé's ship was damaged by the Trade Federation eight years ago, she was forced to land on my home planet, and come into the shop where I was working to look for parts.

These were the things I thought about now as I lay with my head resting in her lap, her fingers running through my hair. She was watching the holonews from Naboo. Nothing unusual going on, thankfully--just a mention of the senatorial procedures we're going to be observing. I've had enough drama the past few days.

I'm eighteen years old, and I had just spent several minutes crying on her shoulder because I missed my mother. Part of me thought I should be embarrassed, but I wasn't. I didn't know when I'd see Mom again, and such is the life of a Jedi, I knew. Obi-Wan, while he would constantly stay on me about controlling anger and fear, had still taught me a long time ago that if we don't cry once in awhile, we'll go nuts. Probably something he learned from his master.

Completely different from the Twelve Stone Statues in the Ivory Tower--excuse me, I mean the Jedi Council. Such was their reason for bringing only infants to the Temple, and initially rejecting me as being "too old." No family attachments, in their minds, means no pain. What they don't realize is, that also means no love.

They had sayings like, "There is no emotion; there is peace." Sounds really good--who wouldn't like to be peaceful all the time--but not exactly practical, especially for someone like me. The Jedi Order gives the best training in the galaxy in remaining calm and in control, but we're still human.

Thank the Force for Obi-Wan. At least he understood.

I felt his presence in the room before I felt his hand on my shoulder, and realized that I was dozing off.

"Are you alright, Padawan?" he asked.

I opened my eyes, which were still red and swollen; took a deep breath, and nodded. "Yeah," I said.

He squeezed my shoulder. "We'll contact her as soon as we land. It's going to be different from now on, Ani. You can contact her anytime you want."

"What about the Council?"

"The Council aren't the ogres you make them out to be, Anakin."

"No," I muttered bitterly, "I'm sure they were fine until the Healers did that surgery and removed their hearts."

"Anakin," he said sharply, but his eyes were dancing. "there's no need for that."

"Alright," I said, "sorry, Master. But seriously, you know they're not going to want me to contact her. 'Interfere with your training, it would,'" I said, doing my best Master Yoda impression, which did get a smile out of Obi-Wan. "If there were any trees on Coruscant, I'm sure the Council could come up with some reason why using indoor toilets interferes with training."

Padmé laughed.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said despairingly, again, with a half-smile, half-sigh. "Anyway, what the Council doesn't know, won't hurt them. I'm ultimately the one who decides whether or not keeping up with your mother interferes with your training. And I personally think it will be good for you." He squeezed my shoulder. "So don't worry about it, OK?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Obi-Wan," I said.

He left, and I closed my eyes again.

Yawn. Fidget. Fumble with the attachments on my utility belt again. Imagine the Jedi Council members in their underwear.

Damn. Could this senatorial session drone on any longer?

I focused my gaze on Padmé, and began undressing her, inch by inch, starting with her headpiece, to the neckline of her dress, to her shoulders...

To the Dug standing behind her. A Dug, a creature with eight hands--and he was holding a blaster in every one of them. And pointing them all at her head. And she was oblivious, still standing straight ahead, listening to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's polysyllabic monotone drabble.

The Dug squeezed the triggers on all eight blasters at once...

"Nooooo!"

"Anakin!" Padmé was shaking me. "Anakin, honey, what happened?"

That's when I realized I had screamed aloud.

My head was still on her lap. I turned to look up at her, and gripped one of her hands, which had been squeezing my shoulders.

"Nothing," I said, "just a bad dream." I was drenched with sweat.

"What about, Padawan?" Obi-Wan said, entering the room. "It must have been pretty bad. I could hear you in the back of the ship."

"It was bad. Flashbacks from the last senatorial session," I said. I swallowed hard.

Obi-Wan and Padmé both nodded in understanding, and Obi-Wan patted my arm. "Release it into the Force, Anakin," he said. "You're going to need to meditate on your fear before we land. We can't afford to be afraid. Enemies take advantage of fear coming from their opponents."

Meditation. Yuck. But I had to concede this time--if I had a choice between meditation and fear leading to dreams like that, I'd pick meditation. At least it led to a virtually dreamless sleep. Kind of like listening to Mace Windu for longer than ten minutes.

"Why don't you two come in and get something to eat? We're landing at 0600 tomorrow morning, so we're going to need to go to bed pretty early."

"You go to bed early anyway, Master," I said.

He looked at me. "A habit I had hoped you would eventually pick up on, young Padawan," he said dryly. "Anyway, if you two do foolishly choose to stay up to an unreasonable hour, I hope you will keep your...er...business at a low noise level."

Obi-Wan and Padmé were both turning pink, but I laughed. "I doubt you'll be able to hear us over yourself, Master. You snore like a bantha."

"Do I need to add an extra meditation on why padawans must not tease their masters?" he said, trying to sound sharp, but he was smiling.

"Save that one for next time I'm short on sleep, Master," I said.

He laughed, and waved his hand in the direction of the ship's kitchen. "Come on and eat," he said.

Padmé and I both got up and followed him.

Dinner was vegetable stew and bread, both easy to pack and store on the ship.

"So which senators are going to be at this session?" I asked, taking another bite of bread.

Obi-Wan took another spoonful of soup before answering. "A few of the same ones from last time," he said, "Yrros Atmos from Concord Dawn, Bail Organa of Alderaan, and of course your beautiful friend here." He winked at Padmé.

Oh, boy. His Royal Pompousness is going to be there. I wonder how many phone calls he's gotten lately from sex-crazed Hutts. I smiled at that thought, and quickly raised my shields so Obi-Wan wouldn't find out what I did.

He didn't notice. "And a couple of new ones, Silvo Rey from Dantooine and Neva Sola from Ansion," he continued. " And Supreme Chancellor Palpatine."

Another 'oh, boy' flashed through my mind. I never knew what to make of Palpatine. Only one word came to my mind when I thought of him--"oily". Like he could do something really horrible, then slide through our fingers before we'd even notice what happened, and be gone before we could catch him.

I was frowning at this thought, and this time Obi-Wan did notice. "What is it, Ani?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Something about the Chancellor. Something I can't put my finger on," I said. I looked at Padmé. "I know he's from your home planet, babe, and maybe I shouldn't say anything."

She put her soup spoon down and looked at me. "It's alright," she said, picking up her water glass and taking a sip. "I understand. I helped put him in office, but you're right. There's something about him that I don't trust."

Obi-Wan put his napkin down. "I'm not telling you two not to trust your instincts; especially you, Anakin," he said. "Trusting one's instincts makes a Jedi better able to sense danger. Maybe if I had trusted mine at the Battle of Naboo, I would have been able to save Qui-Gon." He stopped, and shook his head rapidly, trying, I knew, to rid himself once again of the image of his master's last moments. I sent him a wave of comfort over our bond. Thank you, he replied, then cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, "as I was saying, while you should pay attention to what the Force is telling you, remember what Master Yoda always says: the future is always in motion. The Force shows us possible scenarios as well as real ones."

I nodded.

"So be mindful of your feelings, but don't completely discount the Chancellor until we have concrete evidence to do so," Obi-Wan said, then stood. "Do you two want dessert? I saw some ice cream in the freezer."

We landed in Theed early the next morning.

The pilot had just told us to prepare for landing in ten minutes. I was in my room, throwing a few last-minute things in my bag. Because it was a short flight, I hadn't unpacked much.

I had one thing I wanted to have ready for when we landed though. Something to drop in paper mail once we got to Theed. I rarely used paper mail, but this was something different. Sort of a goodbye present for Owen.

The top of the envelope was emblazoned, in bold black letters: "Coruscant Venereal Disease Control Center. HERPES TEST RESULTS ENCLOSED. CONFIDENTIAL. TO BE OPENED BY ADDRESSEE ONLY." I scribbled Owen's name on the address line, not even bothering to disguise my handwriting.

"Are you ready?"

I jumped at the sound of Padmé's voice, and turned around.

She was wearing a red jumpsuit, a tight one that clung to every curve of her body, and black boots; her hair was pulled back into a simple bun.

I hadn't realized I was staring until she said, "What is it, Ani?"

I smiled at her, then crossed the room and pulled her to me, claiming her lips.

"You shouldn't look so good, babe," I said, "It's not fair to the other men in the world who would have to fight me to the death before they could have you."

She laughed, and kissed me again. "I don't even think the Force could help any man who tried to challenge you, Ani," she said, then grabbed my hand. "Come on, you need to strap yourself in. We're about to come out of hyperspace."

"I'm coming," I said, going back to the desk to grab the envelope, and my bag.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the envelope and looking at it. "Ani!" she said in horror. "Are you nuts?...Never mind. I should have known not to ask that."

"What?" I said, laughing. "It's just for fun. He'll know it's from me. I'm trying to teach him to develop a sense of humor."

"Oh, really--just like when you were trying to 'teach' Master Windu by blowing up a hundred condoms and filling up his kitchen with them?"

"Oh, come on, babe, even Obi-Wan thought that was funny. He pretended not to, but I could tell how badly he wanted to laugh."

She laughed and kissed my cheek. "Yes, I can almost guarantee that Obi-Wan scolds you, then goes in his room and shuts the door and has a good laugh. Seriously. It's impossible to be angry at you for very long." She returned the envelope to me and grabbed my hand. "Come on. You need to strap in. I don't want you in the Healers with broken bones when we land just because you were standing up when we came out of hyperspace."

A few minutes later we landed and stepped out of the ship.

I had been to Theed several times in the past eight years, particularly ever since Padmé and I started dating and I had taken every excuse I could to get to Naboo, but the city's beauty never failed to leave me awestruck--the green grass and tall trees, the magnificent palace, the majestic waterfalls. I remember being ten years old, seeing Naboo for the first time after being on Tatooine all my life, and wondering how so much water was able to flow at once without being wasted. Even after several years, the falls still took my breath away.

At the bottom of the ramp, on impulse, I dropped my bag, grabbed Padmé and kissed her hard on the mouth.p> "Ani!" she said, when I let her up for air. "People are looking!"

"So?" I said, grinning.

She was smiling, too. "Just surprised, that's all. What was that for?"

"I was just thinking that I want our children to be born on Naboo. Everything here is beautiful. Especially you." I brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.

Her smile grew wider, and she tiptoed and pecked me on the lips. "I love you," she said. We heard Obi-Wan clearing his throat, and she grabbed my hand. "Now, come on. Jamilla and Sabé are waiting for us."

The current Queen of Naboo was at the other end of the platform, flanked by two bodyguards, and Sabé, who had been watching us with a wicked grin on her face. I winked at her, and she returned the gesture.

Jamilla was completely decked out, in red velvet royal robes and a gold brocaded headpiece sitting on top of an elaborate hairstyle that probably took Rabé all morning to fix, as well as the traditional white makeup and scar of remembrance. I thought it was a shame that Jamilla, and Padmé before her, both beautiful women, had had to hide behind that makeup.

Obi-Wan reached her before we did, took her hand, and gave a short bow. "Your Majesty," he said.

"Welcome to Naboo, Jedi Kenobi," she said. "It is good to see you again." She turned to us. I gave her the same bow that Obi-Wan had, and then took her hand and kissed it.

She smiled. "And you, Jedi Skywalker," she said. "Still the charmer, I see."

Padmé and Sabé giggled. "That he is," Padmé said, taking my arm.

"Padmé," Jamilla said, turning to walk towards the transport waiting to take us to Theed Palace, as we fell in step beside her, "the session is set for tomorrow at 1200. I plan to attend also. Sabé has contacted your parents, but didn't give them a specific time you would be arriving--I thought you'd want to do that yourself. You and the Jedi are welcome to stay at the palace as long as you would like."

"Thank you, Jamilla," Padmé said. "We'll probably stay two nights, then leave for the Lake Country for my parents' house."

We climbed in the transport, and Jamilla's bodyguard signalled the driver to head for the palace.

"Here are your chambers, Anakin," Sabé said, opening the door to one of the largest suites in Theed Palace's guest wing. She looked at Obi-Wan. "Yours are across the hall, Jedi Kenobi. Identical to Anakin's, although you may have to fight over the balcony. Ani's room has one; yours doesn't."

I half-expected Obi-Wan to make his usual protest over the luxuriousness of our accommodations, but he didn't. I think he gave up on doing that on Naboo a few years ago. Last time he tried, Padmé essentially gave him a tongue-lashing, letting him know that the heroes of Naboo were not sleeping anywhere except in the best rooms in the house, not as long as she had any position of importance in Nubian government. Even my normally-staunch Master cowed before this display of my girlfriend's temper.

Sabé grabbed Padmé's bags. "I'll take these down to your chambers," she said, "that is, if you manage to find your way out of Anakin's before the night is over." She winked at us. Obi-Wan shook his head and sighed.

Padmé laughed. "Thank you, Sabé. I'll see you at dinner. Is there a holorecorder in here? We were going to contact Ani's mother."

Sabé nodded. "Jamilla took care of that. I told her you would probably need one."

"Thank you," I said, "that means a lot to me."

She smiled. "I know, Ani. I miss my mom, too, and it hasn't been ten years." She picked up Padmé's bags and headed down the hall.

Obi-Wan picked up his own, and nodded at us. "Behave yourselves, kids," he said.

I laughed. "You know me, Master," I said.

"Yes, I do. And that's why I know I'm wasting my breath telling you to behave. Just try not to moon anyone this time. I'll see you at dinner." He opened the door to his room and went inside, and Padmé and I went in my room.

Once the door was shut, she pushed me against the wall, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, and pressed her lips hard against mine.

"Whoa, baby," I said, when she let me up for air, "not that I'm not enjoying this, but what in the world got you excited all of a sudden?"

She sighed, and tangled her fingers in my hair. "Anakin Skywalker. Do you know how long I've been waiting to make love to you on a bed that's wider than my arm and softer than a metal plank? Also, as much as I love your mother, it will be nice to have sex without her in the next room."

I laughed. "Alright, good point." I returned her kiss with the same fervour with which she had initiated it. My pants grew tighter as I felt her unfastening my utility belt and heard it fall to the floor. I carried her over to the bed and gently laid her down on it, and reached behind her for the zipper on her jumpsuit.

An hour later, we were under the covers, holding each other and resting, when my comlink went off.

"Damn," I muttered, letting go of Padmé just enough to grab the comlink from the nightstand and speak into it. "Skywalker."

"Anakin." It was Obi-Wan. "I thought you might need some advanced warning, considering what position you're probably in right now."

Did I forget to shield? Poodoo.

Obi-Wan laughed. "No, you shielded fine. I didn't need the Force to be able to guess what you were doing in there, though. I live with you, remember?"

I laughed. "Yeah, yeah, Master. I get it."

"Anyway," he said. "Supper is in twenty minutes. See you down there."

"Alright." I shut off the com and laid it back on the table, enfolding Padmé in my arms again.

She rested her head on my shoulder, running her hand across my chest, and yawned. "I don't want to get up," she said.

I stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. "Me either, baby."

"I guess we need to though." She lifted her head and gave me a kiss on the lips, then sat up on the side of the bed, picking her clothes up off the floor. "Didn't you want to contact your mother before supper?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I did." I sat up, reaching for my pants, which were lying on the floor. I put them on, then Force-floated my tunic from the chair across the room, where Padmé had flung it, to my hand. I pulled it over my head, tucked it into my pants, then ran my fingers through my hair. That's when I noticed Padmé was grinning at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Cheater. My childhood would have been so much easier if I had had the Force. I wouldn't have gotten yelled at to clean up my room so many times. I could have just concentrated long enough to Force-float everything back into place."

I laughed. "Padmé Naberrie had a messy room? I don't believe it."

She laughed, too. "I wasn't always a neat-freak, Anakin. It got easier after I got elected Queen and had a staff to do my cleaning for me." She pulled the jumpsuit up over her shoulders, then turned around and backed toward me, indicating that I should zip it for her. I did, then Force-floated a comb from my bag into my hand, combing her hair and putting it in a simple braid.

"I think you're one of the few men in the galaxy, other than professional stylists, who actually know how to fix a woman's hair," Padmé said.

"It's not hard when you live ten years with just your mother," I said. "Someone had to fix hers on days when she was too tired or sore to do it herself. Speaking of whom..."

"The holorecorder's on that table, Anakin. Let's go."

We both sat at the table, and I punched Mom's number into the recorder. Her face appeared within seconds.

"Ani! Padmé!" she said.

I swallowed hard. "Mom?"

"Hi, Shmi," I heard Padmé say as she took one of my hands in hers.

"Hi, Anakin," I heard both Cliegg and Owen in the background, and gave them a brief wave.

Mom looked the way she did when I was on Tatooine--tired but happy. Her arm was still in a cast, but the bandage was off her temple and the wound was healing.

"How are you, Ani? How was your flight?"

I realized then that my eyes were watering; I quickly brushed a sleeve across my face and sniffled. I wondered how long it would be before I'd stop blubbering like a Creche initiate.

Mom laughed. "It's alright, Ani. Pretty soon you'll be used to the fact that I'm close by now and I'm not going anywhere."

Now, how did she know what I was thinking? Does my mother have the Force?

"I gave birth to you. I don't need the Force. All I have to do is look at your face."

I gulped and swiped at my eyes again, managing a weak laugh. "I guess so," I said. "Anyway, how is your arm? And your head?"p> "Much better. The pain is almost completely gone. The Healer was here this morning; he said the cast should come off right on schedule--I've got about four more weeks. And no permanent damage was done from the blow to the head--I was very lucky, thanks to you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good to know," I said. "We're observing a senatorial session tomorrow--hopefully uneventful--this is the first time I've hoped one of these meetings really is boring."

She laughed. "For the sake of both of you, so do I. Are you going to Padmé's parents' house immediately afterwards?"

"We're planning to," I said.

"Contact me when you get there if you can," she said, "we're about to eat supper but I'd like to talk to you some more."

"My parents have a holorecorder. I'll make sure we use it," Padmé said.

Mom smiled at her. "In that case, I'll talk to you two then," she said, then looked back at me. "I love you, Ani. Remember, the eight years of separation is no more. No matter how far away you have to go on your missions, we're still together."

I nodded, then swallowed hard again. "I know. I love you, too, Mom. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

We shut the recorder off, then Padmé and I walked downstairs hand in hand.

After a delicious four-course meal of traditional Nubian dishes, Padmé and I went for a walk in the palace gardens.

"I've always loved Theed Palace, ever since I was a little girl," Padmé said, gripping my hand. "I never thought one day I've live in it." She sighed. "I don't know, Ani. Some days I wonder why I ever went into politics."

I stroked her fingers with my thumb. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Another sigh. "I don't know. I love being given the opportunity to serve my planet, and not to brag, but I think I've done well. But..."

I laughed. "That's not bragging. That's just agreeing with what everyone else has said about you. It's hard some days, but as a queen or as a senator, you wouldn't be doing your job if you didn't piss a few people off."

That got a smile out of her. "True." Then a lengthy pause, which I interrupted.

"What's the 'but'?" I asked.

She sighed again. "But sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I had just stayed in the village on Naboo where I grew up, with my parents, and never become queen or senator--just lived a quiet life there and no one would have ever known who I was. That's some days, not every day. Like I said, I don't regret what I've been doing..."

I let go of her hand and put my arm around her shoulders. "If you had done that, we never would have met," I said.

She leaned into me. "I know--and that's a big reason I'm glad I didn't do it." Another sigh. "Sometimes I just want to get away from it for awhile. That last senate meeting was one of them..." She trailed off.

I stopped and wrapped both my arms around her, stroking her hair as she rested her head against my chest. "I thought that was what was bothering you," I said. "Listen, babe. It's not going to be like that anymore. We got shaken up; we learned our lesson. Tomorrow's meeting is going to be as routine and boring as they get; so boring that you're going to have to send a servant out to the Hill Country to dig up extra beans for all the caf we're going to need." I tipped her chin up and kissed her lips. "Don't worry about it, OK? Promise me. Let me take care of you. That's what I'm here for."

She tiptoed for a better kiss. "I know. Oh, Anakin, what would I do without you?"

I laughed. "I don't know, but I hope you'll never have to find out."

I was about to kiss her again when we heard laughter from down the walkway, through a nearby grove of trees. Then two distinct voices, one of Padmé's best friend, and the other of...was I hearing this right?...His Royal Pompousness.

Padmé was grinning. "I guess Bail finally figured out that I'm not available," she said. "He's trying to charm the pants off of Sabé now."

I looked again in the direction of Bail and Sabé--I could see them through the trees, sitting on a bench next to a nearby stream, their backs to us; then down at the walkway, which they would be using to return to the palace that night. A walkway that passed right under my balcony.

I looked back at Padmé with an evil grin on my face, took her hand and squeezed it. "You about ready to go inside, babe? I've got an idea."

She smiled, a smile as mischievous as her smiles get. "Uh-oh. Anakin Skywalker, do I even need to ask what's going through that wicked head of yours right now? Do I want to know?"

My grin got bigger. "Nothing important. Just a little something involving a certain friend of yours, a suitor-wannabe of yours, a balcony, and about twenty water balloons."

She burst into laughter. "Oh gods. May the Force help you if you do that to Sabé." Then her expression changed--back to the mischievous grin. "Do I get to be in on the fun?"

"You do if you come right now," I said, and bent down to kiss her lips, whispering, "And we'll make our own fun afterwards."

She returned my kiss. "I like that," she said.

We turned to walk back to the palace.

The two of us got the balloons filled up within a few minutes, and once we were done, I used the Force to chill the water to just above freezing. Then we went out onto the balcony to wait.

Padmé was more hesitant than I was. "Go easy on Sabé, Ani," she said. "I'll feel horribly guilty if she catches pneumonia."

I laughed. "I was planning on being easier on her than I was on Organa, anyway, just because I'm afraid of what she might do in revenge, like put itching powder in my boxers," I told her. "But don't worry--if she catches pneumonia, I'll heal her using the Force."

Padmé gave me another hesitant sidelong glance. "Not overconfident, are you?" she asked.

"Hey, it's me," I said. "But seriously--no, I don't think I'm exactly the Temple's Master Healer. but I also don't think your friend is going to get sick over what I'm about to do to her."

She shook her head. "OK, if you say so."

I put my arm around her. "You need to relax, baby. Time to have some fun," I said. Then I heard voices and laughter coming down the pathway. "See? Here they come." I picked up a water balloon and positioned myself behind one of the tall plants, pulling Padmé by the hand, so that both of us would be hidden but could still have a clear view of the pathway.

"...and then I hid Padmé and Saché's panties; stuck them in the freezer while they were in the bathtub. I told them they shouldn't spend so long in the tub. An hour later, when they finally decided to get out, their undergarments were suitable for Hoth ice creatures," Sabé was saying.

I looked at Padmé curiously. Sabé was a good prankster, but I hadn't heard this story before.

"A slumber party at Saché's parents' home in the Mountain Country. We were thirteen," she whispered. "I had forgotten about that one. While we were thawing our underpants in the microwave, Sabé mentioned calling a couple of good-looking guys she had met in the marketplace earlier that day, to see if they wanted to come over. She only stopped because Saché threatened to bring out their old holovids from Theed Academy, from that dance when Sabé had gotten the really bad haircut, when for about three days she looked like a Wookiee that had gotten coiffed with a lightsaber. She switched hairdressers after that, needless to say, and we were saved from embarrassment that night by the fact that Saché had taken her picture with that haircut."

I practically had to use the Force to restrain myself from laughing out loud. "Does Saché still have that picture?" I asked.

"No. After Romel broke up with Sabé a couple of years ago, she used it for target practice--next to his picture."

I did laugh this time, but managed to stay quiet. By this time, Organa and Sabé had stopped right under my balcony. Organa had his arm around Sabé's shoulders and was pointing at something in the sky.

"And there's the Dantooine system. Dantooine has four moons--Churon, Rauchen, Insel, and Dreselbe. The Alderaani government recently made an alliance with the Dantooine system. We were never at war with each other, but on Alderaan we think it's important, especially given the unrest in the Republic over the past decade or so, to make peace treaties with each neighboring system to prevent any war from ever beginning..."

Damn. Is this man interested in anything other than politics and his own conceited ass? Sabé looked positively bored. She was trying not to show it, but I could tell.

Time to liven things up.

I Force-projectiled the first balloon, to land right on the head of His Royal Nerdiness.

"And the reason we think this is important is that...AAHHHHHH!"

The balloon made a satisfying splat as it landed, in the middle of his monotone speech, right on top of his perfectly-gelled head.

I threw another one before he had a chance to recover.

When this one landed, Organa let out a long string of Alderaani curses, some even I had never heard before, and I pride myself on being able to emit strings of obscenities in five hundred different languages.

When Padmé threw a balloon at him, Organa resorted to Basic. "Damn, that's cold," he said, shaking himself like a bantha to try to get the water off out of his hair and clothes, while at the same time, looking around quickly, like a paranoid victim expecting blaster-wielding assassins.

Sabé was shaking with laughter and wiping tears from her eyes.p> I came out from behind the tall plant and leaned over the balcony, holding another balloon, and winked at her. She nodded, a gesture meaning, "I thought it was probably you." I smiled--and tossed the balloon at her.

She jumped far enough out of the way that it missed her head, but it still landed on her shoulder and drenched her dress front.

"SKYWALKER!" she screamed. "Just wait until later! Your ass is MINE!"

At this point, Padmé reappeared from behind the plant and leaned over the balcony. "Sorry, dear. He's taken," she said. She winked at her best friend, who was now fuming below in her sopping dress, and ran back inside. I quickly followed, and we shut the doors and collapsed on the couch, both of us laughing so hard that tears were streaming from our eyes.

"You're dead when Sabé gets hold of you, Ani, but I haven't had that much fun in a long time," Padmé said.

I nodded. "I'll deal with your handmaiden, babe. That was well worth whatever she might have to dish out."

Before Padmé had a chance to respond, my comlink went off.

That could only mean one thing, and sure enough, when I stretched out with the Force, Obi-Wan was calling for me.

I picked up the com and pressed the response button.

"Skywalker Morgue. You slash 'em, we stash 'em."

"Not funny, Anakin." It was definitely Obi-Wan.

"Aw, come on, Master. Lighten up."

"I'll consider 'lightening up' after you do all my laundry for a week--and after I make sure I'm not going to have to use Jedi healing techniques on the Viceroy of Alderaan after that stunt you just pulled. You're in rare form tonight, Padawan, even for you."

"Maybe--but you know that's why you love me so much."

He sighed. "Anakin..." Another sigh. "We'll discuss this later. I'm not in a rational mood right now. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."

"Alright. Good night, Master." I switched off the com and looked at Padmé. We both burst into laughter again, and enveloped each other in a hug. Then I loosened her hair from its braid and ran my fingers through it, and kissed her, my fingers once again groping for the zipper on her jumpsuit.

**********************************

The Theed Palace gardens, midnight. Both of Naboo's moons were full, giving the gardens an eerie glow through the trees, and giving me enough light to see by without needing the illumination of the wrought iron lamps lining the pathway.

I was supposed to be out here meditating, but I couldn't concentrate. I had other things on my mind, one other thing in particular--a beautiful Nubian Senator, who, for the past two years--or really for the past eight-- had been causing bolts of electricity to shoot through my body every time I looked at her.

I knew she was out here--I could sense her somewhere. But where? I followed her Force signature as it burned brighter and brighter; I knew she was nearby, but I still couldn't see her.

"Skywalker."

I jumped and turned quickly, suppressing the natural urge to yank my saber off my utility belt, as I was used to doing when I was startled. For a Jedi, most surprises aren't good ones.

Not true for this one.

It was Padmé. And, oh, Force, what great thing have I done, that I deserve such a beautiful woman?

She was wearing a black bodysuit, cut low enough to expose the very top of her bosom, tight enough to reveal all her curves.

Oh, Force...

She put a finger to my lips. "Close your mouth, Anakin. You'll catch flies." She smiled.

I had been so busy gaping at her that I had not noticed the goosebumps on her bare arms, or the smooth skin of her shoulders and chest.

I removed my cloak. "Here, baby," I said, "you must be freezing."

I draped the cloak around her shoulders, and pulled her close to me, covering her mouth with mine.

"Ani," she whispered, between kisses.

"Hmmm?"

"Ready for me?" Her hand slid down to unbutton my already-tight pants.

Wait a minute--something's there--something--cold. What was she carrying anyway? A rock from Hoth?

"Padmé?"

Then, "OWWWW!" Not only was she carrying a frozen piece of Hoth's planet core, but it weighed about two standard tons.

"Anakin!"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes. Padmé had just jumped back on the bed and was staring at me, eyes wide with horror. Evidently I had yelled out loud. On my other side was Sabé, stifling giggles, and under the covers, in just the right place, was a huge bag of ice.

"What the hell!?" I asked, yanking the bag of ice from my crotch and throwing it at Sabé, who immediately burst into laughter and ran to the other side of the room.
"You freeze me, Skywalker, I'm going to freeze you," she said.

"I didn't freeze you there," I said.

She winked. "I know. That's why payback is soooo much fun." She looked at Padmé. "Sorry, sweetie, but he earned it."

"Dammit, woman, you just wait. I'll Force-project Bail Organa's lectures into your most erotic dreams."

She laughed. "Why don't you do that when I'm trying to go to sleep instead? It's the perfect cure for insomnia."

I had to laugh at that one, and Sabé came back to the bed and kissed my cheek. "Anakin, you know I love you, but that was priceless. Unfortunately for you, I've spent enough nights with Padmé to know exactly what time she gets up to go the 'fresher every morning, so I knew when to sneak in your room."

"That's alright," I winked at her. "Payback will come."

Padmé groaned. "Oh, you two, stop the war. Nobody's going to win this one."

"That's why it's so much fun," I said, grinning. "What time is it, anyway?" I yawned.

"0800," Sabé said. " Breakfast in half an hour. Senatorial meeting at ten. Padmé, I need to know what you're planning to wear."

She yawned. "I'll be down in a few minutes," she said.

Sabé nodded and left the room. Padmé snuggled next to me. "Do you need to be warmed up now?" She grinned. I grinned back and claimed her lips.

Padmé and I made it downstairs half an hour later. Sabé and Obi-Wan were in the dining room; Obi-Wan munching calmly on his eggs and toast, listening with an amused look on his face as Sabé chatted away, while giving my Master her best flirtacious smile and batting her eyelashes.

Not bad, Sabé, I thought. He's not quite as boring as Bail Organa, and maybe you could liven him up a little bit. I've been trying to do that for years.

They both looked up as Padmé and I walked in. Sabé shot me a mischievous victory grin, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Did I miss something?" Obi-Wan asked, taking a sip of his caf.

Sabé leaned down and whispered in his ear, causing him to burst into laughter, spitting out his caf. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth off, still laughing. "You did what? Are you that worried about my Padawan's propensity to reproduce? Or are you just crazy? I'm surprised you're still standing up right now. I thought he would have beat you for that one."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten backwards in Huttese. I could feel my face turning red.

"Master," I said, "you wouldn't have thought it was funny if I had done that to a member of the Council."

He laughed again. "Actually, Padawan, yes, I would have. It just wouldn't have been as funny, because this time it's Sabé beating you at your own game."

Sabé shot me another evil grin, and I swore in Huttese. "Dammit, woman, I'm going to put Nair in your shampoo. Or maybe I should switch out your PMS medicine with hair growth hormones."

She got a mock-horrified look on her face at that one. "Skywalker, you don't want to know what I'll do to you if you do that." She laughed again, and wiped her eyes where they were watering. "I'm sorry, Ani," she said, "but you know you deserved it."

Padmé looked at both of us sternly. "As I told you two in the room, this needs to end here," she said. "Otherwise we'll have a new Galactic War on our hands and will have to give the Supreme Chancellor emergency powers just to get you two to shut the hell up, because niether of you will ever quit."

Obi-Wan nodded and took another bite of his eggs. "As a representative of the Jedi Order in this matter, I concur with the esteemed Senator from Naboo," he said.

They laughed, and Sabé crossed the room and grabbed my arm. "Alright, Skywalker," she said. "Do you think we could call a truce long enough for me to show you something? It's in the next room."

"In a room alone with you? Do I need to wear a crotch protector?" I asked.

Padmé smiled and kissed my cheek. "Ani, if she does anything else to your crotch, I'll take care of her myself. I know her handwriting pretty well, and I'm pretty sure I could work up some rather intimate love letters from her to the Supreme Chancellor..." She winked.

Sabé jumped. "Don't you dare!" she said, horrified. "I'll be good, I promise. We're just going over here."

She dragged me down the hall into one of the guest bedrooms and shut the door.

"Just wanted your help on something," she said, "something I dug up from an old stash of things I had."

She opened a desk drawer and pulled out a fake turd. A very real-looking fake turd.

I made a face. "Sabé, if that thing smelled, I'd swear it was real. Where did you get it?"

"You think it doesn't smell?" She pressed on it.

"UGH! Sabé! Holy mother of the Force! Where did you get that? A Dug or a Hutt?"

She laughed. "Actually, a joke store in a village in the Mountain Country. You should go there sometime--you'd love it. It's right up your alley." She stopped pressing on it and the smell dissipated. "Anyway," she said. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to be bored if I have to sit through five hours of mundane senatorial presentations. I thought things might get a little more entertaining if we could slip this onto Palpatine's chair, when he isn't looking. Then when he sits on it, we have the smell--and his guards will think he crapped in his pants."

I smiled. "You're a genius. May the Force help any man who allows you access to his reproductive organs, but you're a genius. I was trying to come up with something myself, since Obi-Wan took my whoopee cushions on the way to Alderaan."

She smiled back. "Good. Then it's set." She slipped the turd into the bag she was carrying. "You can decide whether or not to let Padmé find out."

"I'll probably tell her," I said. "She'll think it's hilarious. Just don't tell Obi-Wan."

"Are you kidding me? Your Master is adorable, Ani, but he hasn't earned the right to that kind of secret." She laughed and took my arm. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat before we have to listen to a bunch of old farts brag about how many weapons they have."

I yawned and took another sip of caf.

Sixth hour. After giving a rundown of the resumes of every member of the new security staff of every system which holds senatorial sessions in its capital, they were now returning to the rundown of Concord Dawn's military, which had been interrupted by Sebulba the Rocket Scientist and his cap blaster during our last session on Alderaan.

I checked my chrono again. Sixth hour and first minute. Higa la pinda. Why couldn't the classes we have to take as Padawans include training on how to use the Force to make time go by faster?

As if reading my mind, Sabé looked up at me and winked, and I realized that Chancellor Palpatine was calling for a break.

I had not been paying attention because, although I had not previously thought this to be possible, Palpatine's voice was actually more monotone than Ki-Adi Mundi's.

Mas Amedda, the blue creature at Palpatine's side, rapped his gavel and said "Back in fifteen." Sabé looked up at me and surreptitiously gestured towards the door closest to the Nubian senatorial box.

I looked at Obi-Wan. "Master, I'm going to see Padmé for a minute."

He smiled. "Sure. Do me a favor, Padawan...send Sabé in this direction, since she'll be able to take a break while you're guarding the Senator?" He winked.

My mouth fell open. "Master! I'm not believing this!"

"Well, Padawan," he said. "I may be an old man, but that doesn't mean I've gone blind. I notice pretty women, too."

I felt my face turn red. "Well, of course, Master, that isn't what I mean. I've just never seen you act on it before. It's forbidden for a Jedi, and you've always been so diligent with the Code..."

He winked again. "Anakin, if it doesn't hurt the Council not to know about you, it won't hurt them not to know about me, either." He patted me on the back. "Now, go find your pretty woman--and send mine in this direction."

I gave him a mock salute. "Yes, sir," I said.

"And cut that out, Anakin. We're not in the Republic Navy. If we were, I would have court-martialed your arrogant ass for that wedgie you gave me on the way to Tatooine." He laughed, and waved his hand. "Now, go on."

I went out the door, laughing along with him.

I found Padmé and Sabé next to a water fountain. Padmé stood on tiptoe and kissed me. "Oh, Ani," she moaned, "could that have been any more boring? Or long? I think Palpatine must have a bladder the size of Coruscant. I almost wet my pants waiting for him to call a break."

"Well, that would have livened things up a little bit," I said, grinning.

She popped my arm. "I'd make you sleep on the couch for that one, Anakin Skywalker--if you weren't so damn sexy."

"I knew that would come in handy one day," I said. We both laughed, and I kissed her again. Sabé cleared her throat, and we broke our kiss and turned to look.

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Damn it, Skywalker, I want to go see your Master, and we have a mission to accomplish first," she said, indicating her bag, where I knew she had hidden the Fake Turd from Hell. "Now, come on, I need your Force abilities."

We approached the door to the chambers, then to Palpatine's private box, as I used a mind trick on both guards to get them to let us pass, and the Force to keep them distracted as Sabé lifted up the velvet cushion covering Palpatine's chair and slid the turd under it. Perfect. We used the same mind tricks to get out of the chambers unnoticed, and so that the guards would never remember anyone approaching them. Then Sabé left quickly to steal a few minutes with Obi-Wan.

Palpatine was back exactly on time. I think he has a separate chrono for each planet he's on, so his timing is always perfect no matter what sun he's under at the time.

He was an imposing figure--a large man, always wearing the same flowing velvet and brocaded robes, either blue or black. He had the blue ones on today. He had white hair, and not much of it, but still kept it thick at the bottom. He had an odd-looking face--a large nose, skin that looked like he had taken a dive in Jamilla's white pancake makeup, and a mouth that looked like it had been drawn on with eyebrow pencil. He always wore the same expression, and his voice always sounded exactly the same. I've seen droids with more of a personality than he had. However, there was something about his eyes. When he looked at you, it was as if he had the Force and was using it to probe into your soul. Even though I knew he wasn't a Jedi and couldn't possibly read my mind, I slammed down my shields every time I went near him. He bothered me. I couldn't explain it, but Obi-Wan told me to always trust my instincts, so I did.

The blue velvet robes billowed behind him as he stepped up into his box, followed by a contingent of guards. He stood in front of the podium and raised his gavel. "I now return this session of the Galactic Senate to order," he said. "And we will continue with a brief overview of the security systems for the sovereign planet of Ansion."

"Brief overview," my ass. What exactly does this man consider a long overview?

The senator from Ansion approached the edge of his box, his one eye taking in his surroundings, his full-body mane glistening under the lights.

Then Palpatine sat down.

There was a collective groan from all the senators and their bodyguards--no matter what the species, nor what the language, the translation came to a Basic, "Ewwww!"

Palpatine stood quickly and looked around, those freakish eyes of his side with shock, as his guards, with their hands over their noses, began fumbling around in his box for the source of the smell.

Finally, Mas Amedda lifted up the cushion and pulled out Sabé's fake turd. "Sir," he said, in a whisper, "did you forget to use the 'fresher? Did you not have time?"

It did him no good to whisper. He was right in front of the microphone.

Laughter echoed throughout the entire Senate chamber, and Palpatine's face immediately went from pasty to red.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and found Obi-Wan, with a stern expression on his face, gesturing towards the door and indicating that I should follow him, which I did.

He was walking quickly, so quickly, in fact, that even I had trouble catching up.

"Master," I said, stretching my long legs to keep up with his brisk steps.

"Save it, Anakin," he said, going out into the hallway. When I followed, he pressed a button and the door slid shut behind us.

He glared at me for about half a second, then immediately his expression changed. He burst into laughter, sliding down onto the floor and indicating that I should sit beside him.

"Master?" I said, wondering if years of training me had, indeed, caused Obi-Wan to completely lose it.

He laughed harder, wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, and slapped my back. "Anakin, that was priceless," he said.

I looked at him for a second, then laughed, too. "You think so?" I said, "Does this mean I'm not in trouble?"

He continued laughing and swiping at his eyes. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe I could give you an easy punishment, like confining you to your bedroom for the evening--and encouraging a certain Senator from Naboo to pay you a visit."

"Aw, Master, please don't punish me that hard. You know how much I absolutely hate it when you do that." I gave him my best lopsided grin.

He winked at me. "I know, Padawan, which is why this is exactly what you deserve for such a great prank on such a great person," he said. We both dissolved into laughter again.

At about that time, Padmé and Sabé opened the door to the chambers and entered the hallway. "It stinks in there," Padmé said, laughing, "we couldn't stand it anymore. Are you two alright?"

"We're fine," I said, laughing harder. "Just fine."

Still laughing, Obi-Wan pointed a finger accusingly at Sabé. "You, madam," he said, "are a bad influence on my Padawan. He's a big enough menace by himself. The two of you together could turn the entire galaxy into one big practical joke."

Sabé laughed, and winked at me.

After dinner that night, the six of us--Padmé, Sabé, Jamilla, Obi-Wan, Captain Typho, and myself--were still laughing.

"And did you see his face?" Sabé said. "I've known Palpatine from the time he was first elected Senator--when I was working for King Veruna, as a handmaiden for whoever happened to be his lady of the week--and I've never seen that expression on his face before. And his aides actually believed that he would crap in his pants in the middle of a Senate meeting."

"IQ tests probably aren't at the top of the list of qualifications for that job," Obi-Wan said. "It doesn't take a whole lot of brains to yell, 'Order! Order!' "

"Whoever takes notes needs some intelligence, just to be able to spell those words he uses," Jamilla said. "We're all educated people here, but I think Palpatine, before he holds a meeting, studies the dictionary the night before so he can make sure he uses at least twenty words that no one has ever heard of."

"Yet he wasn't smart enough to keep Sabé and Ani from sneaking in and putting that turd in his chair," Padmé said.

Another burst of laughter, then Obi-Wan said, "Well, I'm sure my Padawan has managed to stump many of the galaxy's greatest minds with his tricks. Speaking of whom--Anakin, are you alright? You're awfully quiet."

I nodded, taking another bite of delicious Nubian dessert. "I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."

"What's going on?" Padmé asked.

I sighed and put my fork down. "Palpatine," I said. "The more I'm around him, the more he gives me the creeps." I looked at Obi-Wan. "Is there any chance he's Force-sensitive, Master? I always feel like he's reading my mind; kind of like I feel around Master Yoda, but in an evil way."

Obi-Wan didn't say anything for a minute, just studied my face, as if looking for something else. Then he shook his head. "I don't know, Ani," he said. "But the possibility is always there. And I've felt it, too, particularly today. I'm going to reiterate what I said on the ship: don't jump to conclusions. But trust your instincts. Feel, don't think. And be mindful."

I nodded and picked up my fork again. Under the table I felt Padmé touching my leg, and I took her hand and squeezed it.

A few minutes later Obi-Wan stood and rested his hand on Sabé's shoulder. "Shall I escort you upstairs?"

She smiled at him. "I'd like that," she said.

"Be careful, Sabé," I said. "You might have to teach him a few things if he took sex education from Master Yoda." I grinned.

Obi-Wan grinned back. "Padawan, to you I may be a stodgy old master, but I've been around the block. I was getting laid while you were in diapers."

I burst into laughter and choked on the water I had been in the middle of swallowing. Padmé whacked me on the back. "What?" I said.

Obi-Wan's grin grew wider. "You didn't think I had it in me, did you? You forget that I was taught by the best. Qui-Gon had a regular seraglio."

I laughed. "OK, that I can believe."

"Soon after my thirteenth birthday, he came in my room one morning and presented me with a box of condoms. 'Do you know what these are, Obi-Wan? They're not balloons.' "

By this time we were all shaking with laughter, and the girls were wiping tears from the corners of their eyes.

"I think that was the same year that Qui-Gon bought both Mace and Yoda subscriptions to Playboy magazine. Mace actually enjoyed it. Yoda wasn't as impressed. 'My type, these aren't, Qui-Gon,' he said. He didn't want the human version. He wanted his own species."

More laughter, and Obi-Wan took Sabé's arm and waved at us. "Good night. If we don't see you before then, we leave for the Lake Country at 0800."

Damn, that's early.

I looked at Padmé. "Shall we retire ourselves?" I asked.

An hour later we were soaking in the hot tub in her suite.

I had just finished rinsing her off and was massaging her shoulders with my hands. "You're pretty tense, babe," I said. "What's going on?"

She sighed. "I was just thinking about what you said about Palpatine--ahh, that feels good," she said as I hit a particularly tense spot between her shoulder blades.

"It's just a feeling I have that comes from being Force-sensitive, that's all," I said. "Obi-Wan is right. Visions are often only possibilities. Sometimes they come true, sometimes not. Master Yoda has this expression that gets on my nerves half the time, but it's very true, as is everything Master Yoda says. 'Always in motion, is the future.'"

"But what if it is true? Remember that vision you had about your mother?"

I continued to knead her tense muscles near the nape of her neck. "Yes, of course. I followed my instincts on that one--I felt a very urgent message from the Force to go to Tatooine, right then. I haven't felt that about the Chancellor; not yet. When I do, I'll act on it, I promise." I leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "Now, why don't you get your hair wet so I can wash it."

She obeyed, ducking gracefully into the deep tub and returning quickly to the surface, her long dark hair fanning behind her. I reached for the bottle of shampoo, poured some in my hand, rubbed my hands together, and began massaging the shampoo into her scalp.

"Ahhh...Ani, you have no idea what a treat this is," she said.

I smiled. "Well, you deserve it," I said. "So, are you ready to see your mom and dad again?"

She smiled. "Yes, definitely," she said. "It's been over a year now. With that dispute between the Commerce Guild and the Trade Federation, the Senate didn't get its usual six-month break--not that we ever do, anyway. Even in peacetime, they'll tell us we can go home for awhile, then always end up calling us back over something, usually a budgetary crisis that doesn't even involve everyone." Another sigh.

I took the hand-held shower nozzle and rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, then began massaging conditioner into it.

"Sola's baby is probably walking and talking now," Padmé said. Sola was her older sister. I knew that the last time Padmé had been home, her niece had been born. At least she had been home for it.

"Well, you'll get to see her again, and tomorrow by lunchtime," I said, "even more quickly if you let me drive the boat."

She laughed. "I don't think so. I'd like to take my stomach with me, not leave it in Theed." She leaned back and kissed me.

I took the spray nozzle and rinsed the conditioner from her hair. By the time I was done, she was sighing again. "I feel so guilty about Palpatine, Anakin, especially if your instincts prove to be correct," she said. "I put him in office. I let him trick me. I should have never called for that no-confidence vote in Chancellor Valorum."

I braided her hair quickly, then wrapped my arms around her waist, encouraging her to lean back against my chest. "Hey," I said. "You were fourteen, babe. You had just been elected Queen. Your planet was in trouble. You had to do something. At the time it seemed like the best option. Even now, I don't know what a better one would be."

Another sigh. "I know," she said. "And we got rid of the Trade Federation, although to this day I can't figure out why we were the scapegoat for their trade dispute anyway. Or how Palpatine managed to use our situation to his advantage."

I shook my head. "I don't know," I told her, "but it's out of your hands right now. Let's just go enjoy your time with your parents. Let Obi-Wan and I handle the weird politicians who crap on themselves."

She laughed, and reached up to slap my shoulder. "Ani!" she said, then leaned back to kiss me. "Come on," she said, standing up, "let's get out of this tub."

I Force-floated two towels over to us, then stood behind her. We both climbed out of the tub and dried quickly, and she put on her hooded bathrobe. I wrapped the towel around my waist, then wrapped one hand around hers and cupped her cheek with the other. "Promise?" I said.

She gave me a small smile. "I promise," she said, tiptoeing and giving me a kiss. "Now, let's go to bed."

"Anakin Skywalker, for the last time, you are not driving!" Padmé said, playfully slapping my rear as we walked towards the edge of the lake, where the Nubian senatorial yacht sat floating peacefully in its boat slip.

I tried the half-grin, half-pitiful pout one more time. It had always worked on my mother. Well, most of the time. "Aw, come on, babe. You know we'll get there faster," I said.

"As badly as I want to see my family, I'd just as soon get there in one piece," Padmé said. At about that time we reached the dock. She handed one of her suitcases to the attending porter; I handed him my pack and her other suitcase, and she spanked my rear again. "Now, get your sexy Force-sensitive ass into the boat, and not another word about getting to drive."

Obi-Wan, who at that time was setting his and Sabé's suitcases into the boat, turned towards us and nodded. "I'm with the lady on this one," he said.

I grinned at him. "Ah, the truth comes out. You think I'm sexy, too, Master?" I said.

He looked at me, a half-grin, half-scowl. "Don't push your luck, Padawan. Remember that I've seen you in some very compromising positions. Remember when you were eleven years old and you and Padawan Sulos decided that you were going to have a 'peeing for distance' contest off our balcony--with Plo Kloon walking right underneath you?"

Padmé and Sabé burst into laughter, and I grinned and shook my finger at Obi-Wan. "I won that one, Master," I said. "Remember?"

"Only because Sulos had not been practicing off his mother's roof since age four, using Dugs and Toydarians as targets. I think you had the advantage there, young Padawan," Obi-Wan said. "Now, get in the boat and let's go."

We did; Obi-Wan took the front seat, his arm resting comfortably around Sabé, who was snuggled against him. Our captain started the motor, and Padmé rested her head in my lap, soon falling asleep to the lull of the waves.

About three hours later we saw land--and a beautiful two-story white house with wood trim, sitting on top of a hill. The porch on the upper level was screened in and allowed for a view over the expanse of water; a brick walkway trimmed with white and yellow flowers led to the door on the lower level. The yard was shaded by several large majestic trees.

Sabé sat up, and reached her hand back to pat my knee. "Anakin, Pad, we're here," she said.

Padmé sat up slowly and shaded her eyes from the sun. "Huh?" she said. Her eyes were bleary from sleep and her hair hung in loose tendrils.

I kissed her. "You're home, babe," I said. "Here--want me to redo that braid for you?"

"I'm home?" The grin on her face grew wider, then, as if she suddenly remembered that she had been asleep, she reached in her bag, pulled out a brush, handed it to me, and turned around. I fixed her hair quickly, a difficult thing to do considering that she was seemingly about to jump out of her skin.

As we docked the boat, with my practically having to hold onto Padmé to keep her sitting down, we saw an older couple walking down the hill from the house, followed by a young woman and another figure, a little girl. As soon as the motor turned off, Padmé hurried from the boat, grabbing my hand and pulling me out behind her. I tried to slow her down so I could grab our suitcases, but Obi-Wan waved me on, an amused expression on his face. "Go on, Anakin, we'll take care of it," he said. "You remember how you were when you went home. It's very similar for her. She doesn't ever know when she'll get to see her family, either."

I nodded and followed Padmé, who was hurrying up the hill, catching up to the little girl, who was hurrying just as quickly down the hill. "Aunt Padmé! Aunt Padmé!" she called.

"Ryoo!" Padmé called, scooping the little girl up in her arms and swinging her around. "You've grown so much! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too, Aunt Padmé. Momma didn't know when you'd come home again."

This time I could feel Padmé's distress through the Force, and I thought I saw tears in her eyes. "I know, Ryoo," she said. "I didn't want to stay away so long." Padmé put her niece down and hugged her older sister. "Hi, Sola," she said.

"Hi, little sister," she said.

Padmé managed a weak smile through tears. "Little? I'm 23," she said.

"And you still weigh 95 standard pounds soaking wet," Sola added.

"Do we get a hug?"

The voice came from the older woman standing nearby. It was easy to see where Padmé got her looks from. Jobal Naberrie was a very attractive woman in her early 50s, petite, with dark hair streaked with grey. Padmé's father, on the other hand, was built like an athlete, tall and muscular, with salt and pepper hair.

Padmé turned and ran into the arms of both of her parents. This time a few tears slipped down her cheeks; I handed her my handkerchief and she quickly wiped them away.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," her mother said, rubbing her back. "Now, turn off your comlink. The Republic can live without you for a little while. We've got a hot meal on the stove, and you get to sleep in your own bed tonight."

Ruwee Naberrie touched his daughter's shoulder, then turned to me. "So," he said, extending his hand, "you must be Anakin Skywalker."

I returned his handshake. "Yes, sir," I said.

He nodded and began walking up the hill to the house, indicating that I should follow. "Padmé told us. I understand you're a Jedi apprentice in training," he said, eyeing my lightsaber.

"Yes, sir. My master is here also, with Sabé." I indicated the bottom of the hill, where Obi-Wan and Sabé, still carrying luggage, were talking with Sola and Ryoo.

Ruwee Naberrie looked towards them and smiled. "So your master has become an unfortunate victim of Sabé's charms, I see," he said.

I laughed, sounding more nervous than I intended.

"Tell me something, Anakin," he said. "I was under the impression that Jedi were not allowed to have romantic relationships, or marry." He looked at me.

I don't think I've been this nervous since I was nine and being scrutinized in front of the Council for the first time.

I cleared my throat. "Well, normally they don't," I said, "but ultimately it's up to the master whether or not the apprentice follows that rule, and the master makes his or her decision based on whether or not the relationship interferes with the training of the Padawan. Obi-Wan had mixed feelings about my relationship with Padmé at first, but he's decided since then that we are good for each other, and that she keeps me grounded."

He laughed. "I see," he said. "She is keeping you grounded. Well, she does have a way of doing that to people. She kept the entire planet grounded during the Trade Federation fiasco a few years back." He stopped and looked at me. "Can I assume, then," he said, "that you are not using any Jedi mind tricks on my daughter?"

I was completely stumped. Damn, even Master Yoda couldn't throw an astrophysics problem at me that left me this speechless.

Ruwee Naberrie's expression was completely unreadable. I had no idea if he was serious or not.

"Sir?" I asked.

"You heard me," he said.

I took a deep breath. "Sir," I said, "for one thing, there is not a mind trick in the galaxy that would work on Padmé. For another thing, even if there were, I wouldn't use it." I had to stop and take another deep breath. "You know, I thought she was an angel the first time I saw her," I said.

Her father smiled. "Well, Jedi Skywalker, you were right about that one," he said. He patted me on the back. "And you've made her happy, which for this father is the most important thing. Now, come on, let's go up to the house."

A couple of hours later I was unpacking my things in one of the large guest rooms in the Naberrie home. Obi-Wan and Sabé occupied the other two. Padmé had thrown her things down in her room, to be unpacked later, and had come in to join me.

She was sitting on the bed, watching me put clothes into the closet.

"Anakin, how do you get so much stuff into such a small bag? The Force?" she asked.

I laughed. "No. I wish it were that easy." I hung up one more pair of pants, shut the closet door, and turned to look at her. "For one thing," I said, "I'm a man. I don't own 200 different pairs of shoes. I also don't have to change clothes ten times a day. Not to mention the fact that shaving cream and a razor don't take up much room. Can't say that for all that expensive heavy stuff you girls carry around for your faces. Hell, you need two separate packs just for that."

Padmé laughed, and nodded.

"For another thing," I said. "I'm a Jedi. I only wear pants and tunics, and I own them in two colors, dark brown and light brown. I also went to the Obi-Wan Kenobi School of Packing for Missions, which requires passing a course in How to Travel in a Starship the Size of Master Yoda's Pillow."

She waved her hand, still laughing. "Alright, alright, I get it."

I crossed the room, knelt in front of her, and took her hands, stroking her fingers with my thumb. "So, baby, are you glad to be home?"

She smiled and nodded, sighing happily. "Oh, Ani, you have no idea."

"I can tell," I said. I got off my knees and sat beside her on the bed, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her passionately.

"Dinnertime everyone!" Jobal's voice came up the stairs at about the time her daughter's hands were moving to loosen my utility belt. Probably good timing.

Padmé whispered, "We'll finish this later," and kissed me one last time before standing up, going to the door, and opening it.

I didn't follow immediately. I sat on the bed a few moments longer, wondering why I could podrace against Dugs, fly an unknown cruiser into a space station full of battle droids, and defeat trained Jedi Masters in practice lightsaber duels, but the idea of dinner with my girlfriend's family made me feel like I was facing my trials for Knighthood.

She stopped and looked at me. "Anakin?"

"I'm coming," I said, "just a little bit nervous, that's all."

She laughed and reached out her hand. "Come on, Ani. You met my parents. They don't bite."

I nodded, stood up and walked to the door, managing a nervous laugh. "I know. But how am I going to impress your father? I can't exactly do my imitation of Master Yoda trying to pick up women. I don't think Force-enhanced armpit noises are going to work either."

"Not at dinnertime, Padawan." That was Obi-Wan, in the hallway, with Sabé on his arm. He winked at me. "Relax," he said. "Where's my apprentice who was going to see every star system and combat every evil? You'll be fine."

Well, when I was nine, I didn't know I was going to fall in love, or that I was going to have to convince one star system named Ruwee Naberrie that I was worthy of his youngest daughter.

Padmé tiptoed and kissed me. "I'll tell you something," she said, in a low voice. "Three of us girls have brought home boyfriends to meet Daddy. He always takes them through the initial question-and-answer, and if you don't faint or throw up, you pass. Most of them don't know that. After that it's smooth sailing. He's only ended up hating one man that one of us brought home. Ryoo's father."

Who left Sola when she was six months pregnant. OK, understandable. I didn't like the man either, and I had never met him.

I sighed, feeling somewhat better. Padmé took my hand and squeezed it. "So just be yourself, OK? Relax."

"Please," Obi-Wan said. "Before I have to come up with some kind of trouble for you to get into so I can have my old Padawan back."

Well, whatever Jobal was cooking smelled heavenly. We walked downstairs.

Several minutes later we were dining on a traditional Nubian dish that I didn't recognize and had never heard of, but I don't remember the last time I've eaten anything so delicious.

Padmé, Sabé, Obi-Wan and I watched with some amusement as, at the other end of the table, Sola tried to get Ryoo to feed herself without spilling everything on the floor.

I turned back towards Padmé's mother. "Mrs. Naberrie, I think you should come back to Coruscant with us and train the cooks in the Temple. This is outstanding," I said, between bites.

She smiled at me. "Why, thank you, Anakin. Have more, there's plenty."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I agree. This is a real treat. Jedi don't get to eat this well very often," he said.

"I hope the Temple dining hall isn't always serving that gruel Master Yoda likes," Sabé said.

I laughed, and so did Obi-Wan. Mine came out more as a giggle because I was so nervous, and I felt my face turn red.

"What's gruel?" Ryoo said, spilling more food on the tray of her high chair. Sola sighed, grabbing yet another napkin to wipe up the mess.

"Mushy food eaten by some species," Sola said. "Here, baby. Eat some more of your vegetables."

"So, Anakin, tell me something. How is your training going?" Ruwee asked.

I swallowed hard and took another sip of wine. "Well," I said, nervously, "my master would probably be the one to ask about that. From my end, it's difficult at times, but worthwhile."

"Anakin is headstrong, but that comes to his advantage sometimes," Obi-Wan said. "He's a hard worker, and he's learning."

"I see," Ruwee said. "So how much travelling do you do?"

"Quite a bit," Obi-Wan and I both said at once, and everyone laughed.

Ruwee nodded. "And are you required to pick up and go at a moment's notice?" he asked.

"Sometimes," I said.

Another nod. "I'm just worried about my daughter's happiness in a situation such as this--with her lifemate constantly having to leave home for indefinite periods of time."

Padmé sighed and rolled her eyes. "Daddy! I have to pick up and leave for indefinite periods of time. How often have I been home in the past year? The duties of senators require a lot of travelling, too, and sometimes visits to dangerous places."

"Aunt Padmé beat up Hutts," Ryoo said, spilling more food on the floor, illiciting another sigh from her mother.

Obi-Wan, Sabé and I burst into laughter. I almost snorted wine through my nose. "Where did you hear that, Ryoo?" I asked.

"Sabé," Ryoo said.

Padmé was blushing. "Sabé, I don't even want to know what you told her," she said.

Sabé winked. "She was worried about you, probably hearing stuff from your parents," she said.

"Or from me," Sola added. "I think her job is just as dangerous."

"Anyway, I didn't think it would hurt anything if she heard a little white lie on how well you can take care of yourself," she said.

Padmé shrugged.

"I don't like the situations Senators get put in every day. I don't like it at all," Ruwee said, looking at her, "and you know that. I told you that when you decided to go into politics, but you were insistent."

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "Anakin's training is done mostly on Coruscant, Mr. Naberrie," he said. "We are sent on missions in pairs. Sometimes our missions are dangerous, but our training prepares us for that. We are trained, among other things, to serve as bodyguards for people like your daughter."

Ruwee nodded. "And for that we are grateful," he said. "We heard how you two diffused the last episode in the Senate. I just hope Organa had those sorry excuses for security officers executed. That was ridiculous."

"They were fired immediately," Sabé said.

"With your temper I'm surprised you didn't shoot them on the spot," Ruwee said.

Sabé laughed. "I've calmed down a lot since Padmé was Queen," she said.

"Well, I'm surprised Anakin didn't spear them on his lightsaber and serve them over hot coals," Obi-Wan said, "but he handled it well. He got Padmé and both handmaidens to safety immediately."

"I'm sure he did," Ruwee said, looking at me. "We haven't forgotten the little boy who blew up the Federation control ship during the Battle of Naboo. You're a good man, son."

Does this mean the interrogation is over? I haven't fainted or thrown up yet--maybe I've passed.

"Thank you," I said.

Padmé smiled at me, and reached under the table to squeeze my hand.

I picked up my wine glass and took a sip.

Easy on that stuff, Padawan, Obi-Wan sent through our bond.

Jedi hardly ever drink. Understood, I sent back, taking another sip.

Jobal looked at Padmé. "I guess we were just hoping to get you home more often, honey," she said. "That's the only reason we were a little nervous when we found out you were dating a Jedi. We know they're constantly on the run." She looked at me. "It's nothing personal. You've made Padmé very happy."

I nodded, taking another sip of wine. "I try to," I said.

I put the glass back down, accidentally knocking it against the plate and spilling it. It landed all over the front of my tunic and pants.

Two good things I can say about that: one, it was white wine, and two, the curse word that escaped my mouth was in Huttese, so while Sabé, Obi-Wan and Padmé understood it, the rest of the table did not, including the two-year-old at the other end.

"I told you to go easy on that stuff, Padawan," Obi-Wan said.

"Sorry," I said, standing up and picking up my glass. Padmé and Sabé were stifling giggles, I could tell. I waved my hand. "Go ahead. I know you think it's funny," I said.

At that they both burst into laughter.

Jobal ran into the kitchen and grabbed some towels. She returned to the table and started wiping everything down, first me, and then the table. "Oh, Anakin," she said. "You shouldn't be so nervous." She grabbed my arm and pulled me further away from the table, continuing to wipe me down as she said in a low voice. "Understand this--Padmé is Ruwee's baby. He's a little protective. Don't let that bother you." She kissed my cheek. Like her daughter, she had to stand on tiptoe to do it. "Padmé loves you, and you love her. That's all that matters to us." She handed me a towel, and her voice returned to normal. "Now, go have some more to eat. And more wine if you can handle it." She winked at me.

I went back to the table just as Sola was carrying Ryoo out of the room. "Bathtime," she announced. "Say goodnight to Anakin."

"'Night, Anakin," she said, stumbling a little over my name, but only a little.

I patted her head. "Night, Ryoo," I said.

I wiped off my seat and sat back down. Padmé reached under the table and squeezed my hand again.

"Dessert, anyone?" Jobal announced.

---------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Padmé and I were walking along the lakefront, enjoying the view. It was a perfectly clear night, with a black velvet sky dotted with stars, visible through an overhang of greenery from the tall trees. The air was very warm--not as warm as Tatooine, but still warm for Naboo. Naboo has four seasons, and we were in the middle of the warmest of them. I still remember the first time I visited Padmé during Naboo's coldest season, and not only thought that I would never, ever be warm again, but also thought the planet was having some sort of weird dust storm because of the white stuff falling from the sky. Obi-Wan told me later that the stuff was called "snow", and I developed a new appreciation for Naboo's cold season after the first time I visited Hoth, which is covered with it year-round.

But now, the air was not only hot, but very thick and moist--different from Tatooine.

"It will probably rain tomorrow afternoon," Padmé said, squeezing my hand. "It rains almost every afternoon here during the hot season. We must have missed it today."

"It's beautiful here," I said, returning her squeeze. "And I'm not worried about the heat, babe. I'm from Tatooine, remember?"

She smiled. "Yes. And if there's a hotter planet in the galaxy, I don't know where it is. But it is a lot more humid here."

I nodded. "True," I said, then grinned. "I know a hotter planet. Sullust. Volcano planet."

Padmé made a face. "It's no wonder the Senator from there has skin that resembles armor," she said.

I laughed. "Well, now you know," I said. Then I asked the question I had been worrying about since we arrived. "So, how do you think I did on the Ruwee Naberrie Assessment Test?"

She laughed. "You were fine, Ani. I told you from the beginning that you would be."

"Well, I didn't faint or throw up. Did dump a glass of fine aged Nubian wine on myself though."

She laughed. "Anakin, it could have been worse. It could have been the whole bottle. Or you could have kept drinking it and ended up making a fool out of yourself."

I shrugged. "I don't know, babe," I said. "I'm not sure he was too crazy about the idea of your dating a Jedi."

I felt her squeeze my hand again. "Anakin, you worry too much," she said. "You've got to understand something. Daddy didn't want me leaving home, period, especially not as young as I did. He worries all the time--he doesn't think anything is safe, and he would have preferred to keep all of us sheltered in the house until we died of old age without accomplishing anything." She sighed. "He didn't want me to go live with my grandmother Winoma in Theed, and when she talked me into running for Princess of Theed when I was twelve, he pitched a fit. By the time I ran for Queen, he had given up trying to argue with me about my political career and had just resigned himself to it. I think he's proud of me, even though he never says much beyond letting me know how much danger he thinks I'm in."

"I'm sure he is proud," I said, "How could he not be? "

We stopped walking at a place where the trees separated, and there was a stone bench at the edge of the water, giving a perfect view of the lake, and the shadow of Naboo's large moon reflecting on the water.

I put my arm around her and led her to the bench, and we sat down. She leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder, and for several minutes we just watched the reflection of the moon on the water.

I kissed the top of her head and wrapped my other arm around her, pulling her closer. "I know this lifestyle isn't easy, Padmé," I said. "Your father is right. If you were to want to marry me, I can't promise you that I wouldn't get called away for months at a time, with little or no advance notice. Such is the life of the Jedi." I had been looking at the water, but I tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. "But I love you. I've loved you from the first time I saw you. I'll always love you."

"Oh, Anakin," she said. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me hard. "Nothing worth having has ever been easy. You and I both know that. Neither of us got to where we are by taking an easy path, or by giving up on dreams." She brought one hand around to cup my cheek, and looked deeply into my eyes. "I love you, too. With everything I have. Remember that." She kissed me again.

"Now, let's go back inside," she said, winking and tugging at my hand.

----------------------

"Anakin, are you planning to eat today, or are you just going to continue to stare off into space?"

Padmé was anxiously trying to hand me a plate overloaded with sandwiches, salad, and fruit, but I was fixated on the mountain peaks, starkly green and purple against the brilliant blue sky. It was a perfectly clear day, with only a few puffy white clouds occasionally appearing in the sky--a perfect day for a picnic in the Nubian countryside. Padmé and I had our blanket spread out over the green grass, near a cluster of trees; the grass was almost soft enough to serve as a blanket itself. Padmé fixed our food while I was busy enjoying the sights of a nature quite different from Tatooine--actually, anything that didn't involve sand was different from Tatooine--and Coruscant, where "nature" is non-existent, except inside Master Yoda's apartment, which is overgrown with trees for some reason.

I took the plate from Padmé. "Sorry, babe," I said, "you know how beautiful I find everything here."

She laughed. "I know. Seeing you reminds me not to take things for granted, like the grass and the mountains, just because I grew up with them."

I smiled at her and took a bite of a sandwich. "Mmmm...delicious," I said.

She smiled back and handed me a bottle of water. I continued to eat, and niether of us said anything for a few minutes; we just listened to the song of several species of birds, species native to Naboo, whose song was just as beautiful as everything else native to Naboo.

Padmé lay back on the blanket and closed her eyes. She wore a dress the color of the twin suns on Tatooine, made of an organza material that billowed around her when she lay down. Her hair was loose except for one clasp in the back; she pulled the rest of it above her head and allowed it to fan out behind her. She sighed. "Ani, this is so nice that I almost feel guilty being out here," she said.

I put my plate down and lay beside her, hoisting myself up on one elbow to look at her, and ran my fingers through her hair. "You're kidding, right? Come on, Padmé, if anyone has earned the right to be out here relaxing, it's you," I said.

She sighed again and opened her eyes. "I know. I just can't help wondering what's going on in the capital. I've shared your suspicions about the Chancellor, you know. I've been thinking about that off and on ever since we talked about it on the ship on the way here."

I kissed her. "I know. But now isn't the time to worry about it. Obi-Wan and I will handle it. There's something not right about Palpatine, but we're paying attention." I sat up. "Just take your mind off of it today, OK? Come help me play a joke on Obi-Wan instead."

She sat up. "What are you going to do to him?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said, standing up and taking her hand to help pull her up, "but I've got an idea."

We headed towards the cluster of trees; I knew Obi-Wan and Sabé had set up their blanket nearby. While I wanted to play a joke on my master, I really had no desire to catch him and Sabé in the middle of the Almighty Act--plus, I felt certain that Sabé would make sure I was castrated afterwards. So we walked slowly, with me stretching out with my Force-sense, trying to detect my master's current activity--or the strength of his shields.

What we found was not something that even my Force-sense could prepare me for. Obi-Wan and Sabé were not having sex; instead, my master was at the edge of the cluster of trees, his back towards us, watering a tree trunk.

Padmé whispered, "Anakin, if I may say so, you have a nicer ass."

"You may say so," I whispered back, then grinned at her. "Guess what my idea is." I sent it to her through the Force, and she gasped so loud that I was afraid Obi-Wan would notice.

"Anakin Skywalker, you are evil," she whispered fiercely.

"I know," I whispered, "but that's why you love me so much."

With that I used the Force to encourage a wasp to sting him, right on his left buttcheek.

We heard, "OWWWW!", then a curse that I swear I had never heard before, and then, "Anakin Skywalker! You're going to be clipping the toenails of every member of the Jedi Council until the day you are Knighted!"

I grabbed Padmé's hand and we both ran back to our blanket, as quickly as if we were being pursued by a herd of full-grown Gundarks.

-----------------------------

"Anakin and Padmé, I know you're out there. Get lost, dammit," Sabé called. "You're always trying to sneak off somewhere to have sex when you're needed elsewhere for important galactic affairs, and now that we're telling you to go somewhere and get better acquainted with each other's important needs, you insist on hanging around."

Padmé and I said nothing, just sat on the carpeted floor of the hallway outside one of the guest rooms in the Naberrie house, and giggled. Inside the guest room, with the door carefully closed and locked behind them, Sabé was using an old Nubian poultice to try to remove the stinger from Obi-Wan's butt.

I don't know how Sabé knew we were there. She didn't have the Force, and we had snuck quietly from our rooms, where we had been sent like wayward children so that Sabé could take care of Obi-Wan's bee sting.

I was the first to sneak out. At least, I thought I was. I cracked my door to find Padmé opening hers at the same time. I smiled and winked, and she put a finger to her lips.

"Sort of reminds me of a few months after Obi-Wan brought me to the Temple," I whispered, "and I was slowly learning how anal he is about keeping our apartment neat. He was in a meeting with Master Yoda, and I walked through the whole place, turning all the picture frames upside down. He came back and was greeted by a picture of Master Qui-Gon standing on his head. He was able to see the humor in it--after about three hours."

Padmé stifled a laugh, took my hand and led me outside the guest room door, where Sabé was getting a great excuse to touch Obi-Wan's butt.

"Ow!" he yelled, then cursed in Qui-Gon's mother tongue. "Are you about done there?" he said.

"Almost. I'll make it up to you, I promise," she said. Then, more loudly, "Anakin and Padmé! Force-float yourselves out of here!"

We didn't bother stifling our laughter this time. "Why should we? This is too much fun," I said. I stood up, used the Force to unlock the door, and cracked it open.

Obi-Wan lay on his stomach, bare buttocks exposed for all to see, while Sabé sat on the bed beside him, hands covered with the poultice.

"How did you know we were here, anyway?" I thought I had shielded pretty well. Or at least, I thought Obi-Wan would be too busy trying to get rid of the pain to bother probing my mind.

At this, Obi-Wan stuck up one hand, in a gesture that I remembered from Tatooine--a vulgar gesture that Watto had taught me to use on outlanders who wouldn't pay their bills.

"Damn, Master," I said.

"I'm a Jedi Knight, Anakin," he said, his face still turned away from me, "I've suffered worse than bee stings. I'm just wondering when the day is going to come that I run out of punishments for you."

I laughed. "Maybe I'll be Knighted by then," I said.

"Or maybe you'll be on the Jedi Council. There will never be another routine mission in the galaxy."

Almost as if on cue, Sola appeared at the top of the stairs, near Padmé. "Excuse me, Anakin?" she said.

I turned. She was holding some sort of disc in her hand.

"This just arrived, from Theed. It's for you and Jedi Kenobi, marked 'urgent'."

From Theed? What could be urgent from Theed? I felt a horrible sense of foreboding. If something was happening in Theed, to Naboo...I thought of eight years ago, when I had met Padmé, and the Trade Federation had taken over the entire planet, putting its people in prison camps, cutting off supplies.

Then, another disturbance, another sense of darkness, lurking in the back of my mind. The Chancellor.

I took the disc and nodded. "Thanks, Sola," I said.

"There's a holorecorder in the second room on the right, down the hall," she said. She turned and walked back down the stairs.

Obi-Wan had gotten off the bed and was quickly pulling his pants back up. Sabé had gone into the 'fresher to wash her hands.

What do you think this is, Master? I asked.

I don't know, Padawan, he said. But I'm beginning to sense that maybe the Dug incident in the Senate chambers was more than just a fluke. Maybe it was a test.

My stomach tightened, as I remembered the blaster pointed at the Malastare senator--and the eight blasters pointed at Padmé, in my dream.

We entered the room, which turned out to be a parlor, decorated with overstuffed couches and beautifully polished tables, with a large window giving a spectacular view of the lake.

I turned to Padmé. "Why don't you and Sabé wait for us in the other room. Sola said the message is for Obi-Wan and me," I said.

I could see the fear in Padmé's eyes, but her mouth was set in a stubborn line. "I don't think so," she said. "Sola also said the message was from Theed. This is my planet. I have a responsibility here, to take action if something has gone wrong. I will listen to the message, and I really don't care who it's addressed to."

Obi-Wan started to protest, but I cut him off. Believe me, Master, there's no point, I said. I don't like this either, but we might as well let her in on it.

He nodded, in a resigned way. I put the disc in the recorder and pushed play.

Immediately a hologram appeared. It was Master Windu. The transmission was breaking up, and we could hear shots being fired in the background.

"Knight Kenobi, Padawan Skywalker," he said. "Theed is in the middle of a crisis situation. It seems that Naboo is once again being attacked by the Trade Federation, with the backings of the Commerce Guild, the Mining Guild, and possible other operations, which the Council is working to uncover as we speak. Master Yoda, myself, and our padawans have been dispatched by Her Majesty, Queen Jamilla, to act as ambassadors between the attackers and the people of Theed, and to protect the Queen and the Royal Court of Naboo. The Supreme Chancellor has called for emergency military powers to declare martial law on any system that might be threatening his home planet. The two of you will continue to protect Senator Naberrie. The Council is aware of your current location, and you will not leave your said location until given notice."

With that the hologram faded out.

I looked at Padmé. She had completely blanched; her lips drawn into such a thin line that they almost disappeared. "The Trade Federation, again," she said, in a voice barely above a whisper. "And we lost so many lives last time. And he wants us to stay here? Is he crazy?" With limbs as stiff as a battle droid's getting ready to march, she turned.

"Where are you going?" Sabé asked.

Padmé turned her head and looked back at us, with the fire of determination in her eyes that I remembered from her days as Queen, when she formulated a plan to capture the last Trade Federation Viceroy. "To pack," she said, "we're going to Theed." She looked at Obi-Wan and me. "And if you two are supposed to protect me, I suggest that you do the same." With that she walked out of the room.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No way," he said. "We cannot do our jobs and still allow her to walk straight into danger, as she seems determined to do."

Sabé put her hand on the doorknob. "I'm her bodyguard, and I'm not a Jedi so I'm under no obligation to obey any Council members," she said. "Let me see if I can talk her out of it." She left.

Obi-Wan and I looked at each other.

"What do you think is behind this, Master?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know, Anakin," he said, "but there's more to this than what appears on the surface. For some reason the Trade Federation has a dispute with Naboo, a pacifist planet. And now they've dragged the Mining and Commerce Guilds into it. And Naboo is the Supreme Chancellor's home planet..."

I nodded. "And last time the Federation attacked Naboo, he got Padmé to call for a vote of no confidence in the former Supreme Chancellor, therefore managing to get himself elected..."

"And now he wants emergency powers," Obi-Wan finished. We both stood there, silent for a moment as all the pieces suddenly fit together. "Anakin, we may have more on our hands than we think. I don't even know if the Council sees all this."

I nodded. "Let's just hope we can get word to them before it's too late. I wonder if there's a safe way to send a hologram."

Just then Sabé walked in, sighing. "I can't even get her to open the door to her room. Maybe you should try, Anakin." She plopped on one of the overstuffed couches and rubbed her eyes. "As it is, I'd better make sure I have enough ammunition, and a couple of extra blasters."

I left the room, walked down the hall to Padmé's room, and knocked softly on the door. "Baby, it's me," I called.

Nothing. Complete silence.

I stretched out with my Force sense. Distress was coming off of her in great waves. The last thing she needed was to be alone right now.

I knocked again. Still no answer.

"Come on, Padmé. You know I'll wait forever for you, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to do it sitting on the carpet next to your bedroom door."

Silence again, and I was about to make good on my word to sit down on the carpet and wait for her, when I heard footsteps. The door opened a crack, enough for me to squeeze through if I turned sideways, which I did.

She was standing in front of the bed, her back towards me, methodically folding clothes and stuffing them in a suitcase. Her movements were jerky, as if she were a droid; the only sounds in the room were the rustling of clothes and a quiet sniffling.

I crossed the room and put my hands on her shoulders. She jerked away, brushing my hands off. "I've got to pack, Ani," she said, her voice shaky.

"Padmé..." I said. I moved beside her, took the shirt she was folding away from her and laid it in the suitcase, and took her chin in my hand, turning her face towards mine. Her eyes were red and moist. "You don't need to go to Theed. Mace and Yoda are the best fighters in the galaxy. They'll protect Jamilla. The Council is doing an investigation into who is behind this..."

She cut me off, her eyes blazing, and pushed me away. "And I'm supposed to do what? Sit here at my parents' comfortable lake retreat and let everyone else do the fighting?" She had gone from practically whispering to nearly screaming. " You know me better than that, Anakin. I wasn't that kind of Queen; I won't be that kind of Senator. This is my planet. Something was going on here that I missed, that I should have known about and didn't; that's why the capital is being attacked right now, and I will not, while I've got breath left in my body, sit back and watch! I will not stay in the background and let my Jedi boyfriend protect me while my people suffer and die!"

"Is that the way you see it? Padmé, I would protect you no matter what, even if I weren't a Jedi."

She had turned away from me; I walked over to her and put my hands on her shaking shoulders.

"I know," she said. Her voice had returned to a whisper. "I'm sorry, Ani. It's not about you. It's just that..."

"Shhh...I know. It's alright. You're upset." I took her face in my hands, and brushed away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"It's just that...last time...my planet was attacked...and Jedi were sent to protect me..." She paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath, "...one of them never went home."

With that she collapsed against my chest, fisting her hands in my tunic, and sobbed. I held her, trying to whisper words of comfort but managing little more than, "Shhh..."

I didn't know how much comfort I had to give, at this point.

-----------------------------

Several minutes later I heard a soft knocking on the door, then Obi-Wan's voice. "Anakin?"

Padmé quickly let go of me, scrubbed her sleeve across her face, dashed into the nearby 'fresher and shut the door.

Tatooine would turn into an ice planet before Padmé Naberrie would allow other people to witness her tears.

I opened the door to my Master and Sabé. "I contacted Yoda and Mace," Obi-Wan said, entering the room. "Sola led me to her father's office to use his private transmission. No one has the code other than him and one other member of the University faculty, who is off-planet at the moment, on Concord Dawn, which is several light-years away. I was still careful about what I said, though, only mentioning that you and I have formulated suspicions involving a few higher-ups." He sat down in a nearby chair, rubbed his temples, and sighed. "Yoda has been doing this long enough that he should be able to put two and two together. Let's hope so, anyway." He looked up. "So are we going to Theed?"

I nodded. "She's insistent, and I'll be damned if she's going alone."

Sabé's eyes narrowed and she put her hand on the blaster now strapped to her hip. "You got that one right," she said.

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, resting one hand on Sabé's shoulder but looking at me. "You've got to remember, Anakin; we don't know exactly what's going on, and all we can do is defend. We can't fight a war..." He then looked at Sabé. "...even if both of these stubborn women insist on jumping head-on into the front lines of battle."

It was my turn to narrow my eyes, and put one hand on the hilt of my lightsaber. "We weren't trained as master swordsmen for nothing, Master," I said, "and I certainly think this would fall under the category of using the Force for defense rather than aggression."

He looked at me again, and quickly went into teacher mode. "Be careful, Anakin," he said, in the same tone he used when giving me a sparring lesson. "The line between defense and aggression can easily be blurred in a situation like this...especially when you are defending someone you are attached to emotionally." He looked back at Sabé. "This is a lesson we'll both need to remember, if we go to Theed."

I nodded. "I understand, Master," I said. "But unfortunately I don't think anyone or anything, not even a mind trick from Yoda himself, is going to talk Padmé into staying here, so we'd better plan accordingly."

He nodded in resignation, and I knocked on the 'fresher door. "Are you alright in there, babe? It's just Obi-Wan and Sabé. Why don't you come out?"

I heard her splashing her face with cold water and blowing her nose, then the door opened and she emerged. Her face was red and splotchy and her eyes were still swollen, but the determined set of her jawline was back. She said nothing to any of us, just went to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer, took out a utility belt with blasters strapped to either side, and fastened it around the waist of her jumpsuit, which she had changed into after the picnic. "Alright," she said, so quietly that we almost couldn't hear her, "let's go."

Obi-Wan stepped forward. "Senator, I don't suppose there is any way I can talk you out of this, is there?"

Padmé's eyes snapped and her mouth drew into a tighter line. "No, there isn't," she said. "Now go get your things, Jedi Kenobi. You too, Sabé. Our people are in trouble, and we're leaving immediately."

I told you, I sent Obi-Wan over our bond.

Yes, you did, he sent back.

Jobal, Sola, and Ryoo bid us goodbye ten minutes later, at the shore, where a speeder boat awaited to take us to Theed.

"Be strong, little sister," Sola said, "You always have been. Just don't stop now."

Padmé nodded and said nothing, just returned her sister's tight embrace.

Ryoo ran around the yard, playing with a toy blaster. "Aunt Padmé kill Fed'ration droids," she said. "Pow! Pow!"

In our sadness we all managed a small smile at her innocence.

Jobal wept soundlessly, and I was afraid that her mother's tears were going to cause Padmé to break down again, but she kept her voice even as she hugged her mother tightly. "I'll be back, Mama, and soon," she said. "All four of us have done this before, and so have the Jedi who are already there. It may be over by the time we arrive in Theed."

Jobal took a deep, shaky breath. "I know, honey," she said. "Your father is going to be sorry he missed seeing you off. I wish you didn't have to leave so quickly." She cupped Padmé's face in her hands, and I saw Padmé swallow past a lump in her throat. "You come back safe to me," Jobal said.

Padmé nodded and kissed her cheek. "We'll be fine, Mama." She turned to us. "Let's go."

She squared her shoulders and held her head high as we climbed into the boat, but once we sat down, she squeezed my hand so tightly, I thought some bones would break.

Sabé signalled the driver to head for Theed.

-------------------------------

We heard the sound of blaster fire before we ever came in sight of land. Multiple rounds of blaster fire, coming from all sides. It nearly drove me insane not to be able to see anything. We had spent nearly the entire ride in silence, but I could tell by the expressions on their faces that Padmé, Sabé, and Obi-Wan felt the same way I did.

Padmé's face grew more and more tense as we got closer to shore, and her eyes blazed with anger. She leaned forward. "Go faster," she told our driver. "People are dying there!"

"Ma'am, this is as fast as this boat will safely go," the driver said.

"Then drive it at an unsafe speed!" Padmé snapped. "Do you not hear what's going on up there? Nothing's exactly safe right now."

The spires of Theed Palace came into view. Obi-Wan and I strained our Force-senses, knowing that the battle had to be immediately nearby.

We found droids. Rows and rows of battle droids, reminiscent of the ones the Federation used eight years ago.

Easy to fix, as long as I have Padmé and Sabé surrounded by the other Jedi, and I can get to a ship before the droids are able to do much more damage.

However, there was something else. Lifeforms. Lifeforms with strange Force-signatures; human, yet not human; somehow...unnatural. Yes, that was it. They were unnatural, and they absolutely exuded darkness, to the point that I put my hand on my lightsaber and my mind in defense mode even though I couldn't see an immediate threat.

Master, do you feel that? I asked.

I wish I didn't, Padawan, he said.

Do you know what it is?

Do one more check on their Force-signatures. See if you find the same thing I've found.

I did, and quickly discovered what was so unnatural, and dark, about these beings.

The Force signatures were exactly the same. Whole groups of beings with perfectly identical Force signatures.

Master! How did we not notice this before?

I don't know, Anakin. Someone has been making clones behind our backs for quite some time now, intending to use sheer numbers to gain power. My senses tell me that the Sith are somehow behind this. Be mindful. I'm going to try to contact Master Yoda.

The driver docked the boat on the grounds of Theed Palace. Padmé was standing and reaching for her blaster almost before the motor had been turned off. At the sight of the droids, clones, and the palace guards, who were tied to the gates and stripped of their weapons, my girlfriend let out the vilest of Nubian curses. I had only heard her use that word once before: when we were having sex and the prophylactic slipped. She jumped quickly out of the boat, and fired into the crowd, felling five battle droids and four clones.

The droids and clones immediately returned the fire. Obi-Wan and I, having jumped out of the boat to stand beside Padmé, blocked the shots with our sabers. Padmé and Sabé fired another round into the crowd.

"Senator, let us protect you," Obi-Wan said, blocking another volley of return shots.

"Then I suggest you keep up with me," Padmé said, firing another round from her blaster and moving into the crowd to free her guards.

In a few minutes we had made scrap metal of the droids and clones, and Padmé kicked the bodies aside on the way to the gate. She untied one guard. "Where's the Queen?" she asked him.

Before he had a chance to answer, we heard more shots. Obi-Wan and I turned in the direction of the blaster fire, blocking it with our sabers. Another group of battle droids was closing in on us. There were a few more clones with them, not as many this time. But something else caught my attention--short, squat monstrosities capable of very rapid fire.

"Droidekas!" Obi-Wan said. "We'll need your best fighting here, Anakin."

We both twisted, turned and parried several times per second, or so it seemed, until finally we were able to cut the droidekas in half, and landed feet first on the ground, panting and sweating.

Padmé and Sabé had already killed several battle droids, and Obi-Wan and I quickly finished them off.

"I wonder if any more are coming," I said, looking off at the horizon, stretching out with the Force.

"No time, Anakin. Let's get out of here," Obi-Wan said, grabbing Sabé's elbow. I did the same with Padmé's.

"Where are we going?" Sabé asked.

"The Queen is in the palace, in the throne room, trapped. She has been captured. The guard didn't know by whom. We should go in there," Padmé said.

"Then the Queen and the Senator will be imprisoned. That will make our job harder," said a voice immediately ahead of us.

Obi-Wan and I looked up and saw Mace, his purple lightsaber ignited, a frown on his face; Yoda was beside him, wearing much the same expression, his small green saber ignited. "Why didn't you stay put like you were told?" Mace asked.

Padmé stepped forward. "Jedis Kenobi and Skywalker are doing what you are asking them to do. They are protecting me, Master Windu. I refused to stay put. I don't have to take orders from the Council, and I do not go into hiding when my world is at risk!"

"Listen to us, you should, Senator Naberrie," Yoda said.

"I appreciate your concern, Master Yoda, but this is a decision I feel I must make," she said.

Mace and Yoda were both silent for a minute, then nodded in resignation. "We should go into the throne room, then. There is a bigger threat in there than we had anticipated. I believe it may take four Jedi." Mace looked at Obi-Wan and me. "It seems that the Sith have returned."

----------------------------

Padmé and Sabé's jaws both dropped, their eyes wide in horror.

"How do you know?" Padmé asked.

"A great disturbance in the Force, we have felt," Yoda said. "Clouded, it is. Only twice have I ever felt it."

"The first time was when Master Yoda was a Padawan. Very few alive today remember that. The second time was..." Mace began.

"Eight years ago," Obi-Wan finished, his hand gripping the handle of his lightsaber. "If the Sith are here, we have no time to waste. Let's go."

"We should get the Queen out of the throne room first. Then we can deal with the Sith once we know everyone is safe. There may be more clones and droids in the Palace," Mace said.

"This way," Padmé said, taking off quickly with Sabé immediately behind her, and Obi-Wan, Mace, Yoda and me at their heels.

We hurried down the long marble hallways of Theed Palace, making our way quickly to the throne room, with Padmé and Sabé taking out the few battle droids in the corridor with their blasters. Padmé palmed open the door to the throne room and looked around. "Where is she?" she said.

"Looking for someone?"

We heard the voice, deep, gravelly, and sinister, from immediately ahead of us, from the throne.

It was definitely not Jamilla. The figure was of a male, much taller, and covered from head to foot in a black cloak, his fingers entwined in front of him as if he were about to crack his knuckles, his hood covering his eyes, allowing only the bottom of his pasty-white face to show. He sneered at us and cackled again.

"You Jedi. Your Force senses are weak. You won't find the Queen here."

"Sith," Obi-Wan muttered, then louder. "So which are you, the Master or the apprentice?"

The Sith Lord glared at Obi-Wan. "The Master, Jedi Kenobi. Thanks to you I have no apprentice." He turned to glower at me. "Perhaps I should kill yours, in reprisal."

Padmé was louder. "You slimy piece of Hutt poodoo," she said. "Do you really think you're a match for four Jedi?"

The Sith cackled. "Senator Naberrie. Such a foul mouth on such a beautiful woman. And just as young and naive as you were when you defended your planet as Queen Amidala. Do you honestly think the Jedi are a match for the Sith? You do not know the power of the darkside, my dear. I am on my way to ruling the entire galaxy."

Padmé glowered. "The Republic would never stand for it, even if these Jedi don't kill you right here."

He cackled again. "My dear child, I am the Republic." At that, he folded back his hood to reveal the rest of his face--the pasty skin, the thin mouth, the hawk-like nose, and the ice-cold blue stare that sent shivers down my spine.

Palpatine.

I heard collective gasps around the room, including my own, then Sabé raised her blaster and fired four shots, all the while calling him a name in Nubian, something I recognized as meaning illegitimate child of a space slug.

The shots were deflected, one by one, with his bare hand. "Handmaiden Martarre. Just as young and naive as the Senator you serve."

He held his hand up, his fingers pinching together, and Sabé gasped and grabbed at her throat.

Obi-Wan ignited his saber and lunged at Palpatine.

Palpatine let Sabé go, and she took in deep gulps of air. As it turns out, Palpatine was just playing with her. He turned to the four of us, who had ignited our lightsabers. "Now, Jedi--prepare to die."

He signalled, and from the shadows came rows and rows of clones. They were coming from the back, from the sides, even jumping from the ceiling, landing on all of us. I was dimly aware of several things: throwing the clones off of me, the rapid slashing of four lightsabers, the moans of clone warriors as they lost limbs and were sliced through their midsections, blaster fire from the clones and from Padmé and Sabé, and through it all, Palpatine's cackling.

It seemed we were winning the battle. The clones were coming fewer and fewer at a time. Their blaster fire was becoming less rapid, and our sabers seemed to cut them down more rapidly.

It would be over soon. We hoped. Then we would be able to force Palpatine to face us himself, and we could defeat him, just as Obi-Wan defeated his apprentice.

"Ani!" I heard Padmé's scream over the remaining blaster fire and the slashing of my saber.

I decapitated a clone and turned to face her. She was on the floor, writhing in pain. Pain caused by lightning bolts. Lightning bolts shooting from Palpatine's fingertips.

The Supreme Chancellor and Sith Master was cackling with laughter as he electrocuted my girlfriend. He stopped long enough to sneer at me. "Now, Skywalker. You want to watch while I kill your lover?"

Mace and Yoda, having just finished off the clones, turned to look at me.

Palpatine cackled again. "That's right. You think I don't know? You think I don't know that your order forbids love affairs? And that you and your master could both be kicked out of the Order for it? Well, now everyone knows. But never you mind. Soon you won't have a lover." With that he attacked Padmé with another barrage of lightning bolts.

She cried for me again. "Ani!"

"You are no longer of use to me, Senator Naberrie. I will have to kill you now. What a shame. You served my purpose so well."

I couldn't stand any more. I lunged at Palpatine with my already-ignited saber, chopping off first one arm, then the other, then his head. The lightning bolts stopped, the cackling stopped, and he fell from the throne onto the floor, spilling blood onto the marble.

I didn't stop there. I dismembered him bit by bit, cutting off his legs, then the legs at the knees, the arms at the elbows, burning a black X over his midsection. I was seeing red. All I could think about was making sure he was gone, couldn't hurt anyone else, and making him pay for killing Qui-Gon and hurting Padmé.

I heard the voices of the other three Jedi above me, and Obi-Wan and Mace's hands on my shoulders. "Anakin! That's enough!" "Padawan Skywalker, you can stop now. He's gone." "Stop you must, young Padawan, or consume you, the darkside will--just as it did the Supreme Chancellor."

Then another voice, weaker, to the side. "Ani?"

I looked over at Padmé, who was lying on the floor with Sabé kneeling beside her. She gazed at me with bleary eyes before slipping into unconsciousness.

"No!" I cried, running to her and kneeling on her other side. I put my head to her chest. Yes, thank the Maker--her heart still beat. I took her hand in mine and held it to my cheek, feeling the tears stream down my face and my body shake uncontrollably.

Then hands on my back, or one human, one with three claws.

"Come you must, Padawan. Take her to the medical frigate, you must."

Then Obi-Wan, more softly. "Come on, Anakin. She'll be alright, but the sooner we get her medical help, the better."

I nodded, standing up and lifting Padmé gently in my arms, tears still falling from my eyes. Sabé took me by the shoulder. "This way, Anakin. I freed Jamilla. She is unharmed, and she's already contacted the medical team."

I nodded, swallowing hard, and kissed Padmé on the forehead.

Please be alright, angel, I thought, just please be alright.

I had let her get hurt. I had failed, as a bodyguard, as a boyfriend, and as a Jedi.

----------------------------------

The trip to the medical frigate was a blur. I walked quickly, cradling Padmé gently in my arms, being careful of her injuries. I laid her on the starched-white hospital bed, taking her hand with one of mine, and laying my other hand on her forehead, trying to use my Force-sense to heal her even as she was surrounded by med droids who quickly hooked her up to machines. Her heart beat irregularly. She was going into shock; her hands and feet were freezing. I used the Force to float a blanket from a nearby closet onto the bed, covering her legs with it.

But there was something else--her lungs. I did not see her chest rise and fall; I could not hear her soft breathing nor feel its whisper on my cheek.

It hit me as soon as a droid put a mask over her face and turned on the respirator, letting its soft beeping fill the room.

My angel wasn't breathing.

For a moment I saw red. Damn Palpatine to seven Sith hells. What I did to him wasn't good enough. Nothing would ever be good enough. Nothing.

Then the guilt washed over me. I had failed. I had promised I would take care of Padmé. I did not act quickly enough on my suspicions about the Chancellor; even being the Chosen One, I couldn't see him for who he was, not soon enough. I had failed as a Jedi. And as a boyfriend--what kind of man allows his beloved to run head-on into danger as Padmé did, even as insistent as she was? I could have kept her at her parents' house--called her father home and had him hold her there while Obi-Wan and I left, if I had had to. That's what I should have done. But I didn't. I had allowed her to be stubborn and walk into this, and now her stubbornness--and my ignorance and stupidity--might cost her her life.

"Jedi Skywalker?"

Over the mechanical voices of the droids, reading out Padmé's vital signs ("Pulse rate steady but low, blood pressure low, respiration arrested") in the same voices they used to read out the number of bandages that were in the supply closets, I heard a human voice. I looked up to see one Nubian healer beside me; another was on the other side of the bed, taking Padmé's pulse at her wrist.

"Jedi Skywalker, we believe we can help the Senator," the healer said. She was tall and brunette, with a kind face. "However, we need you to wait immediately outside the room."

"I want to be here when she wakes up," I said. My voice was hoarse and thick. "She needs to see a familiar face."

"Jedi Skywalker, I must insist," the healer said. She put one hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. "I have treated lightning injuries before. Naboo has a horrific storm season, and some people get caught unawares and get electrocuted." She looked down at Padmé. "I have never treated lightning from a Sith Lord, but I understand from the Jedi Masters that it is similar to Nubian lightning, just wielded with the fingers of evil." She looked back at me. "Her heart is beating. That is a good sign. We will help her." She squeezed my shoulder again, and pushed me towards the door. "Now, let me do my job."

I nodded and walked out into the adjoining waiting room. It was furnished with several rows of hard durasteel chairs, but no one was sitting in them. Mace and Yoda stood in the back; Obi-Wan stood to the side, hugging Sabé and stroking her back. When I walked in, he let go of her and turned to me.

"Anakin?" he said.

All of them were looking at me questioningly. I shook my head. "She's not breathing," I said.

Their faces sagged. I saw Sabé's eyes fill with tears.

I looked at Mace and Yoda. "Master Windu, Master Yoda," I said. "What the Chancellor--or whatever he is--said is true. Senator Naberrie and I are lovers." I said this without any emotion at all.

Yoda nodded. "Know this, we do, Padawan," he said.

"How long has this been going on?" Mace asked.

"Two years," I said. I took a deep breath. "Masters, I love the Jedi Order. I wanted to become a Jedi because I wanted to serve the galaxy, and I felt that the Order was the best way to do it." I took another deep breath. "But I love Padmé. I've known that for a long time, but I only knew exactly how much when I carried her into this medical frigate, realizing that the only reason she is injured right now is because I have failed in every way possible." I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "If she survives this, I intend to ask her to marry me. I do not want to have to choose between the woman I love and the Order I serve. I am asking you not to make me choose. "

Mace and Yoda both stared at me with the same scrutinizing expression that they would give any Jedi Knight or Padawan being questioned before the Council, at any time.

Finally, Mace spoke. "The Code forbids marriage, Anakin," he said.

I nodded. "I understand." I started to unhook my lightsaber from my utility belt.

Obi-Wan held his hand out. "Anakin, don't," he said.

I looked at him. "I'm sorry, Master. This has nothing to do with you."

Mace held up his hand. "Anakin, you're a powerful Jedi. We don't want to lose you," he said.

"Discuss this later, we will," Yoda said, "when safe, the Senator is, and back on Coruscant, we are."

I felt Obi-Wan's hand squeeze my shoulder, and I rehooked my lightsaber to my belt.

Just then the healer opened the door to Padmé's room. "Jedi Skywalker?" she said.

All of us turned, faces hopeful.

"Jedi Skywalker, we've resuscitated her. She's breathing, and semi-conscious, but very, very weak. She has asked for you."

I ran quickly to her bedside and took her hand. It was much warmer now, thank the Maker. With my other hand I stroked the hair back from her face. She opened her eyes wearily and looked at me through half-slits. "Ani?" she said hoarsely.

I smiled at her, even though I could feel myself tearing up. "How are you feeling, angel?" I asked.

She nodded. "Better. Tired." She closed her eyes again.

I felt a couple of tears slide down my cheeks as I kissed the palm of her hand. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," I said.

She opened her eyes again to half-slits. "Don't cry, Ani," she said. "You killed him. He's gone."

I nodded, and she closed her eyes. The healer squeezed my shoulder. "Best to let her sleep, Jedi Skywalker," she said, and then smiled at me. "She's going to be fine. She really is."

I nodded again, and walked into the waiting room.

Obi-Wan was there. "Padmé's parents are on their way. They'll be here in an hour or so," he said.

I felt guilt wash over me again as I wondered how I was going to explain this to the Naberries.

"You'll tell them that you saved her life, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Or if you don't, I will."

I couldn't say anything else. I sank into a chair, buried my face in my hands and sobbed. I felt Obi-Wan sit beside me and pull me into a hug. For the next several minutes I was ten years old again, and had just had a nightmare, and my Master was there to hold me while I cried, to tell me everything would be alright again.

---------------------------------

I was still sniffling and wiping my eyes an hour later, when Padmé's parents appeared in the waiting room, accompanied by the brunette healer.

Both of them looked at me with blank expressions. Jobal's face was red and swollen from crying; Ruwee's was completely unreadable. I stood, and for a few long seconds, none of us said anything.

Finally I spoke. "I'm sorry," I said. My vision blurred as my eyes once again filled with tears.

Jobal shook her head. "Anakin," she began.

I didn't let her finish. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect her," I said, wiping my eyes with my already-damp handkerchief. "They were coming too fast, and there were so many of them."

"Anakin," Jobal repeated.

"He was attacking her with lightning while sending the clones after us. He knew exactly what he was doing, and where our weaknesses were. We were fighting off some blasted lifeform copies with inferior Force signatures, and that's why we weren't powerful enough to stop him from using the lightning on her. She had never encountered that before, I don't even think she knew what she was up against. And she was calling me, and I couldn't get to her on time..." I stopped and took a few deep breaths, sniffling and wiping my eyes again, trying to calm down, when Jobal grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

"Anakin, stop it," she said. "If you hadn't been there, she would have died. You know that."

"I shouldn't have let her come," I said. I looked at Ruwee. "I should have called you, gotten you to come home, had you tie her down if that's what it took, but she should have never come to Theed. I should have never allowed her to put herself in that kind of danger."

Even in the middle of all the sadness, I thought I saw a hint of a smile on Ruwee Naberrie's face. "You think you could have stopped her?" he asked. "I think you're forgetting who we're talking about here, Anakin. As far as me holding her down--I tried that when she was about twelve, and practically got clawed to death." He put his hand on my shoulder even as his wife continued to hold me and stroke my back. "You may be a Jedi, but you're not all-powerful. There are some things even you and your master can't prevent. You got rid of Palpatine, and you saved her life. This healer, along with the two Jedi Masters downstairs, has told us everything. We know what happened."

"Jedi Skywalker," the healer said.

I looked up.

"I've already run through this with Senator Naberrie's parents, but you should know, also. She should be up and around in a couple of days, but she'll still need medical treatment for awhile. She'll probably have problems with headaches, blurred vision, temporary hearing loss, and the circulation in her hands and feet. She may also need to see a mind healer to be treated for the effects of the trauma." She met my eyes. "But she'll be fine--back to normal within a matter of months, actually. She's progressing very well."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you," I said.

Jobal took my face in both of her hands and kissed my cheek. "Now, go wash your face. You know Padmé wouldn't want to see you this upset, and she'll probably be awake in a little while."

I nodded, and left the room.

-------------------------------------

Early that evening I was sitting by Padmé's bed, holding her hand, running my thumb over her knuckles as she slept. Ruwee and Jobal had left an hour earlier, allowing Jamilla and Sabé to settle them in the palace, but I wasn't ready to leave yet. I realized I could spend hours, days, a lifetime, in fact, just watching Padmé sleep. Oh, Force, I thought, was it possible for a human being to feel so connected to another, as if losing her would be like having my very soul ripped away?

Once again my anger at Palpatine burned for what he had done, what he had tried to do, to my angel, but I tried to squelch it. He was gone, I had made sure of that, and anger was wasted on the dead. Life was too short as it was; too short to spend being sad, or angry; too short to spend another second of another day away from Padmé.

Even if I had to squelch some anger against the Jedi Order for their rules against attachments. Even if I had to give up one of my childhood dreams, to become a Jedi, to be a hero, to serve the galaxy. I would give up that dream to fulfill another one, one I've decided is more important: to marry Padmé.

Padmé's eyes fluttered open. "Ani?" she whispered. Her voice was hoarse; her lips were dry and cracked.

"What is it, baby?" I asked.

"Can I have some water?"

I poured her a glass of ice water from the pitcher on the nightstand, then helped her sit up. She gulped thirstily from the glass I placed in her hands.

"Whoa," I said, "easy. Sip slowly. You don't want to get sick."

She nodded, finished the glass and handed it back to me. Then she lay back down, closed her eyes, and squeezed my hand. "I love you, Ani," she said.

I leaned over and kissed her. "As I love you," I said. "Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

She nodded, and was asleep again within five minutes.

I was still stroking her hand several minutes later when Obi-Wan came in, followed by the healer, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Anakin, you need to get some sleep yourself," he said.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, Master. I'd rather stay here. I won't get any sleep if I have to leave this room. I'll worry too much."

Obi-Wan pointed to the couch on the other side of the room. It wasn't quite long enough for my legs, but I knew what he wanted. "So don't leave this room," he said.

"Jedi Kenobi," the healer said, "the taller Jedi Master insists that Jedi Skywalker be given a shot to make him sleep if he resists any Force-enhanced sleep suggestions you send."

Mace. Alright, old buddy. When my girlfriend is well again, it's payback time.

"He's just worried about you, Ani," Obi-Wan said, and pointed at the couch. "Now, go. You won't be far from her, I promise."

I nodded and stood, kissed Padmé again, then reluctantly let go of her hand, went over to the couch and lay down on it. Obi-Wan helped me take off my boots and covered me with a blanket. I shut my eyes, and with the aid of my master's Force suggestion, soon found myself drifting off.

--------------------------------------

I was aware of several things as I woke. The bright light of the rising twin suns shining through the window. The warm desert breeze blowing through the open curtains. The smell of hot caf and frying meat wafting from the kitchen. The sound of several voices--one female, and those of children.

Children? What? How had I ended up on Tatooine? And where had the children come from?

As if in answer to my question, a small sandy-blond bundle of energy flew into the room at the speed of a Boonta-Eve winning podracer--and jumped onto the bed and slammed into me with the force of one of Sebulba's crashes.

"Daddy!" he squealed happily. "Time to get up! Mommy's cooking breakfast--she let Leia help, and Leia made a big mess!"

Daddy? I'm Daddy? I asked myself this, yet somehow I knew instinctively. Even if he hadn't been a perfect copy of me at that age, I would have known that this was my son, that his name was Luke, and that Leia was his twin sister.

I picked up Luke and set him on my lap, stroking his blond hair away from his face. "Is that so?" I asked. "I guess we'll just have to help clean up the mess then, won't we?"

A pout appeared on his little face. "Do we have to?" he whined. "Leia made the mess."

"You helped!" cried his small indignant twin as she entered the room, dough smeared all over her face and in her chocolate brown hair. "You were in the way--that's why I knocked the bowl over and the waffle batter got all over the floor!"

"Children, children," Padmé said, appearing in the doorway. "It's not important enough to argue over. Now, Leia, did you tell Daddy that breakfast is ready?"

Leia looked at me and nodded. "We made waffles and sausage and eggs, Daddy," she said.

I stood and stretched my legs. "Sounds good, Princess," I said, as her grubby hand reached for mine.

Padmé smiled at me, and I felt more peaceful than I had in a long time.

"Ani?" A gentle hand was stroking my hair, and a soft voice whispered my name. I felt a kiss on my forehead, and smelled the familiar scent of her soap and shampoo. Mom.

I blinked twice and opened my eyes. Was I really on Tatooine?

She smiled and continued to stroke my hair. "Are you all right, son?" she asked.

It was Mom. Her arm was still in its cast, but the wound on her head was healed, leaving only a scar to mark her encounter with the Tuskens. Cliegg stood beside her. "We came as soon as we heard," he said. "Obi-Wan contacted us yesterday."

"Mom," I said, sitting up on the couch and swinging my legs around. She sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug with her good arm. I hugged her back and buried my face in her shoulder, like I had done when I was little. She continued to stroke my hair.

"The Jedi said Padmé is going to be fine," Mom said, "and that you saved her life and rid the galaxy of the Sith Master once and for all. I'm so proud of you, honey."

I didn't say anything, and for several minutes I just rested in the comfort of her embrace. Finally I looked over at the bed where Padmé was still sleeping peacefully. "It's going to take her awhile to get all of her sight and hearing back," I said, "and the circulation in her hands and feet will be such that she'll probably walk with a limp for awhile. She may have some problems with headaches, too. And of course there's the post-trauma effects on the mind, but she's strong." I paused, continuing to watch Padmé as she twitched in her sleep, then her face returned to its former peaceful expression. "But yes, she's going to be fine." I looked back at my mother. "I'm going to marry her, Mom," I said.

Mom just smiled. "I know, honey. I've known since the first day she walked through our doorway in Mos Espa. Just call it mother's intuition."

I smiled back, then shook my head. "No, Mom, seriously. I'm going to marry her. I'm going to look for a ring as soon as I feel comfortable leaving her long enough to do it. And I'm going to ask her as soon as I have a ring."

Mom got tears in her eyes, and for a minute I wasn't sure if they were happy tears or sad ones. "What are you going to do about the Jedi, Ani?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. The Code forbids marriage. I don't want to give up the Order, but..."

She rubbed my back. "I know, sweetheart. You don't have to tell me." She sighed and looked away. "You've dreamed of being a Jedi ever since you were old enough to have dreams. I would hate to see you give that up, as much as you love her." She looked back at me. "But I've always told you to follow your heart. I can't tell you any differently this time. I only hope the Jedi Council will be able to understand."

I nodded. She kissed my forehead and stood. "We're going over to the Palace," she said. "Try not to stay in this room all day, Ani. Padmé's parents will be here soon, and she won't be alone. It would do you good to get out."

Another nod, and she and Cliegg left.

----------------------------------------

Half an hour later I heard a knock, then the door opened softly and Jobal stuck her head in. "Did she wake up at all?" she asked softly.

At the sound of her mother's voice, Padmé rolled over and pushed herself up on her elbows, slowly opening her eyes. "Mama?" she said.

Jobal smiled and came into the room, followed by Ruwee. "We're here, sweetheart," she said, quickly crossing the room. Both parents sat by Padmé's bed, and Jobal took her hand and stroked it. I sat on the other side and helped Padmé prop herself on pillows.

"How do you feel?" Jobal asked.

"Not too bad," Padmé said, but I could tell she was hiding something. She was bleary-eyed and squinting, and her voice reflected a physical pain that she would rather her parents not find out about. "I can't really see anything," she said. "It's all blurry."

"The healers said that would happen," I said, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "It's temporary though. Should be gone in a few days."

"And my head..." Padmé added, groaning. "I don't think my head has ever hurt this bad, ever."

"The headaches are temporary, too," I said. I stood up to pour her some ice water. "Do you want me to call the healers and ask for a painkiller? Do you want me to use the Force to ease some of your pain?"

"No painkillers, Ani," she moaned. "I've done enough sleeping." A small smile appeared on her cracked lips. "The Force would be nice."

"Alright, here," I said, moving back over to the bed, "I'm going to lay you back down."

Jobal wore the same smile her daughter did. "Where would we be without the Jedi?" she asked.

Suddenly Padmé's smile disappeared and her face turned a horrible shade of green. "Ani..." she said.

I grabbed the nearby trash can and held it under her just in time. Ruwee held her hair out of her way as she vomited. Jobal dashed into the nearby 'fresher, came out with a cool wet cloth, and held it to Padmé's forehead.

When she finished, she mumbled several Nubian curse words, at least one having to do with excrement.

"Where did you learn that language?" Ruwee said.

I handed Padmé a glass of water and put an arm around her shoulders. She sipped the water and scowled at her father. "Daddy, I'm twenty-three," she said. "Everyone on Naboo knows how to swear by then." She rolled her eyes. "But if you must know, that was Palo's favorite word."

"Oh," Ruwee said, shaking his head. "I had forgotten about him. Well, you're certainly better off with a Jedi than an artist."

We laughed, and I adjusted Padmé's pillows and lay her back down. "You should rest," I said, "The headache probably made you sick."

She nodded. "It did," she said.

I put my fingertips on her temples. "Just relax. I'm going to use the Force to ease your pain and help you sleep."

She nodded again. I gently sent waves of comfort and sleep suggestion to her through the Force, and she was asleep again within ten minutes. I kissed her forehead, then returned to my place in the chair.

"Thank you, Anakin," Jobal said.

I nodded. "That's what I'm here for," I said quietly. "I'd like to talk to both of you if I could, while she's asleep." They both nodded. I indicated the couch across the room, and we moved over there.

I was suddenly overcome with nervousness. My hands shook visibly.

"Anakin, what is it?" Ruwee asked.

I cleared my throat and coughed. Jobal put her hand on my arm and looked at me, a look that said, 'I think I already know what's going on here.'

I didn't allow myself any more time to think before I spilled it. "I want to ask Padmé to marry me," I said.

Jobal smiled and got tears in her eyes. She wrapped me in a hug. "I knew it," she said.

"What about the Jedi?" Ruwee asked. His expression was completely neutral.

I shook my head. "We're not supposed to marry," I said. "It's against the Code." I took a deep breath. "But if I have to choose between Padmé and the Order, I'll choose Padmé."

Ruwee patted me on the back. "That's all I needed to hear, son," he said. He smiled. "That, and I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." He winked at me, and the three of us shared a laugh, probably the first since Padmé had gotten injured.

Obi-Wan knocked at the door and opened it. Padmé stirred in her sleep, and her parents and I put our fingers to our lips. My master nodded, smiled, and said quietly, "Anakin, I've come to convince you to take a break for awhile. You haven't left this room in two days. You need to at least eat a real dinner. You're going to be skinnier than Yarael Poof's neck if you keep this up."

I sent Jobal and Ruwee an image of Yarael Poof through the Force, so they would know what we were talking about. Both of them burst into laughter at the image, then covered their mouths to avoid waking Padmé. Jobal kissed my cheek. "Go on, Anakin," she said. "We're going to be here for awhile anyway."

--------------------------------------

"Anakin, let me see it again," Sabé said as we walked back to the medical frigate. I reluctantly reached in the pocket of my cloak, pulled out a small velvet box, and handed it to her.

"Please be careful," I said nervously. "I hate taking it out of my pocket in public. You never know..."

Obi-Wan laughed. "Padawan, I'm sure any pickpocket that even thought about trying to take that ring would lose both hands to your lightsaber before he could turn and run," he said.

Sabé and I both laughed. "Yes, he would," I said, "but that doesn't mean I don't worry about it. You're asking me to be rational again, Master," I winked at him.

Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head. "I know. I should have given that up long ago, but I'm a slow learner."

"I know I've already told you three or four times, Ani, but Padmé is going to absolutely love this," Sabé said, staring at the ring sitting in the opened velvet box.

I was thankful that I had taken Obi-Wan and Sabé with me when I went ring-shopping. Sabé had led me to the nicest jewelry store in Theed--the place where Padmé had ordered her jewelry when she was Queen. I had looked at about ten rings before picking one out that was perfect for my angel. Sabé had gotten a chance to play Padmé's decoy one more time as I tried the rings on her hand, which is the same size as Padmé's, to see how they would look.

The ring had a large heart-shaped diamond in the center with two smaller diamonds on either side, set in a band of yellow gold. Sabé tried it on her hand one more time, holding it out to admire how the diamonds reflected the golden light of Naboo's midafternoon sun.

Hint, hint, Master, I teased him over our bond. He smiled. I'm not there quite yet, Padawan, he retorted.

Sabé put the ring back in its box and gave it back to me. I put it back in the pocket of my cloak, stuffing my hands in my pockets, fisting one hand around the box as we approached the medical frigate.

"I sense Mace and Yoda in the waiting room," Obi-Wan said.

I nodded. "So do I," I said. I turned to look at him. "I'm going to go ahead and talk to them, Master. I know they said they were going to discuss it when they got back to Coruscant, but I can't wait that long. Mace and Yoda are the heads of the Council--if I'm going to be expelled from the Order, they should be able to make that decision without consulting with the other ten Council members."

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "So negative, Anakin," he said, "you don't know that they're going to expel you."

"I know," I said, "but I thought I should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. You know how stuck they are on the Code."

"The Republic has changed--is changing--and the Jedi Order is going to have to change with it, or we will die out," Obi-Wan said. "Yoda realizes this, and so does Mace. In fact, Yoda has mentioned something to that effect. Just the events leading up to this recent battle have changed the way we view things. We should have been able to sense Palpatine. We should have been able to sense Maul, ten years ago. But we had gotten complacent, arrogant, and set in our ways." He took a deep breath. "This is the way the rest of the galaxy views us. We're supposed to be peacekeepers and protectors, but we're seen as an old outdated Order that takes children from their parents, and sits in an ivory tower and doesn't interfere often enough where needed. This isn't how it's supposed to be." He looked at me. "Of course the provision against romantic attachments was put in the Code to prevent a Knight from being biased. You're not the first to break that rule, Anakin." He looked at Sabé. "Obviously." She smiled. He turned back to me. "I would like to see the Order restored to what it used to be. I would like for the galaxy to see us, once again, as peacekeepers and protectors, as servants of the common people."

I nodded. "So would I," I said.

We had reached the frigate. We stopped, and he put his hands on my shoulders. "I hope you won't leave the Order, Anakin. I know you love the Jedi as much as I do, and for all the same reasons. If the Council will let you stay, I know you'll make a great Jedi and a great husband to Padmé at the same time."

"Thank you, Master," I said, feeling a lump form in my throat.

He hugged me. "Go talk to them. And good luck," he said.

With that we walked into the frigate, and to the waiting room outside Padmé's room, finding Mace and Yoda. "Anakin, I'm glad to see that you got out for a little while," Mace said.

"I insisted that he get some food and fresh air," Obi-Wan said.

Mace nodded. "Good."

"Doing fine, the Senator is," Yoda said. "Awake, she is, and waiting to see you. In her room, her parents are."

"Good," I said. "Masters, I need to talk to you." I realized my palms were sweating, and wiped them on my cloak.

Mace and Yoda had noticed my nervousness, and their expressions changed from smiles to concern. "How can we be of help, Padawan?" Yoda asked.

My mouth was dry. I looked around the room for water, but there was none. I took a deep breath. "I can't wait until we get back to Coruscant for a decision from the Council, Masters," I said. My voice was shaking. I took the velvet box out of my cloak pocket and opened it. Mace raised his eyebrows at the sight of the ring. "I plan to propose to the Senator. I need to know if I'm going to be giving up my life as a Jedi."

Mace and Yoda looked at each other. "Patience was never your greatest virtue, Anakin," he said, almost sternly. They turned back to us.

"Master Obi-Wan, how feel you, about this?" Yoda asked.

"I don't want Anakin to leave the Order, Masters," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "but I understand his reasons." He paused. "I'm beginning to wonder if the provision in the Code forbidding marriages isn't a little outdated, Masters."

"It's not up to us to change the Code, Obi-Wan," Mace said.

"Then who is it up to?" my master asked.

Yoda sighed. "Tell, I can, that Qui-Gon's apprentice, you were," he said.

Mace shook his head. "Any revisions in the Code will not be discussed right now," he said. "However, our Order's numbers are dwindling. Parents no longer want their children to be tested as Force-sensitives. We have gotten the reputation of being a cold, unfeeling Order that takes infants from their parents. The number of initiates in the Creche has decreased by one-third just in the past ten years. Not to mention the fact that the Sith returned. Qui-Gon lost his life to the apprentice, and the Master rose to power right under our noses, taking over the Republic before Anakin killed him." He looked at me. "We can't afford to lose you, Anakin."

"Break the Code, we did, by accepting you for training," Yoda said. "Too old, you were."

"We will break it again so that you may marry the Senator and remain in the Order," Mace said.

I sighed with relief. Tears flooded my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. "Thank you, Masters," I said, swallowing hard. "I won't let you down."

Obi-Wan stroked my back. Mace smiled. "We know you won't , Anakin," he said.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets again and headed towards Padmé's door. Before opening it, I turned back to the three Jedi Masters and Padmé's best friend. "If you four don't mind," I said, "I would like for you to come in and be present for this."

Yoda smiled--one of the few times I've ever seen him smile. "Honored, we would be, Padawan," he said.

-------------------------------

Padmé was sitting up in bed, still a little pale but smiling for the first time since our battle with Palpatine. Her mother stood when I walked in the room, followed by the other Jedi and Sabé. "Anakin! Good, you're back," she said. "Padmé was about to drive us nuts asking where you were."

I laughed, crossing the room quickly, kissing Padmé and taking her hand. "I'm here now, babe," I said. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," she said.

"Headache gone?" I asked.

"Yes, it is. And I can see now. You look like my boyfriend instead of some strange tall blond fuzzy-looking species."

Everyone laughed. "That's good," I said, squeezing her hand.

She nodded. "The healers said some of the blurring might come back, though, and same with the headaches. My hands and feet tingle, too. It's going to be hard to walk around for a little while. It's OK though." She smiled at me. "You killed the Sith Master, Ani. That's all that matters."

I squeezed her hand and ran my thumb along the back of her knuckles. "We'll get you well soon, Padmé. I promise."

We heard a knock on the door. Obi-Wan opened it to find Mom and Cliegg standing on the other side. "Mr. and Mrs. Lars, come on in," he said.

"We just wanted to see how Padmé was," Mom said, crossing the room and taking Padmé's other hand.

Padmé smiled at her. "I'm doing much better. Thank you for coming all the way here."

Mom laughed. "We wouldn't have had it any other way, honey. Owen and Beru can look after things on the farm for a few days." She looked around. "You seem to have drawn quite a crowd."

"They all came in with Ani," Padmé said. "I was kind of surprised myself."

"Well, they are here for a reason," I said.

"What's that?" Padmé asked.

I felt a wave of nervousness wash over me, and I know my knees were shaking as I stood. I wiped my sweaty palms on my cloak, poured myself a glass of water from Padmé's nightstand, and gulped it all down at once, hoping against hope that my voice wouldn't crack with what I was about to do.

"Ani?" Padmé said. She sounded concerned.

The room went silent. All eyes turned to stare at me. No one said anything.

I turned quickly back to Padmé and reached into my cloak pocket. I dropped to one knee, took her hand in mine, and with the other hand, pulled out the small box and opened it to reveal the ring.

Padmé's mouth dropped open and she gasped. Tears formed in her eyes. "Oh, Anakin..." she said.

I gulped. "Padmé, I love you. I've loved you ever since the first time I saw you, the day you walked into Watto's shop with Qui-Gon and Jar-Jar. I was only ten at the time, but it didn't matter--I knew. During the years we were apart, not a day went by that I didn't think about you. For the past two years, I've been thanking the Force for the fact that a woman like you, beautiful in every way, would even give a guy like me a sidelong glance, yet here we are. These have been the best years of my life, Padmé, and I would like to know that there will be many more. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." I took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her left ring finger, just down to the first knuckle. "Padmé Amidala Naberrie, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Several tears slipped from her eyes, but Padmé was grinning widely. "Anakin," she gasped again. "Oh, gods..." She let go of my hand long enough to slide the diamond ring all the way onto her finger.

"Is that a yes?" I asked.

She threw her arms around me, pulled me to her and kissed me hard. "No," she said, with an amused grin on her face, "that's a yes."

The entire room burst into laughter, and our families and the Jedi applauded.

-----------------------

Padmé walked slowly, carefully, occasionally stretching out an arm to maintain her balance, her legs as wobbly as a newborn bantha, her mouth set in a grim line of determination. She would walk normally again, and soon. The healers had told her that the numbness in her feet and hands would be completely gone in six weeks, and until then, walking would be difficult. However, no injury ever stopped my girlfriend. Correction: my fiancee.

A week had gone by since I had proposed to her. Our families had returned home, the Jedi Council had returned to Coruscant, and Obi-Wan and Sabé remained on Naboo with us, waiting for Padmé to heal enough to travel. She still suffered from lack of circulation in her extremities, which was generally uncomfortable as well as making walking, and performing simple tasks with her hands, more difficult than usual. Also, once or twice a day, she would complain that her vision was blurry, then would be blinded by a piercing headache, usually severe enough to cause her to throw up. But she was hanging on. This was the same Queen of Naboo who almost single-handedly defeated a Trade Federation army at the age of fourteen. She was not about to let a little Force-lightning get her down.

"You're doing well, baby," I said quietly.

She looked at me and nodded, her expression unwavering, reaching out again to maintain her balance. "I hope so," she said. "It's just walking. It should be easier than winning a thumb-wresting match with a Wookie." She sighed. "Should be."

"You are doing well, Senator Naberrie," the healer said. "You're progressing much more rapidly than we expected."

She sighed again. "I don't have a choice. I have to get back to Coruscant. The Senate is probably in mass chaos right now. The Commerce Guild, the Mining Guild, the Banking Clan, and the Trade Federation were all in league with Palpatine. Someone is going to have to call for their franchise licenses to be revoked. And we've got to elect a new Supreme Chancellor..." Padmé suddenly tottered on her feet, and reached for the wall to catch herself. Too late--she lost her balance and landed squarely on her rear end. "Goddammit!" she screamed. "Sithspit! Jar-Jar could drink a pint of Corellian whiskey and be more graceful than I am right now." She lowered her head, digging both fingers into her hair and yanking at it in frustration.

I ran to her side. "Hey," I said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "relax. It's OK. You were trying to do too many things at once." I tipped her chin up so that I was looking into her eyes. She was clenching her jaw and I could tell that she really wanted to cry right now, but was not about to in front of the healer, who had arrived at her other side.

"You're injured, Senator," she said, putting her hand gently on Padmé's arm. "Recognize your limitations."

Padmé shook her head. "There's too much to be done."

I laughed, hugged her to me and kissed the top of her head. "Don't take this the wrong way, babe, but the Republic can function without you for a few days. And even if it couldn't, what good are you going to be to your people if you don't take care of yourself?"

She sighed again, burying her head further into my chest. "I guess you're right," she said.

I kissed her again. "Now, were you headed for the 'fresher? Do you want me to run you a hot bath? Would that make you feel better?"

I felt her nod against my tunic.

"Come on," I said, standing and pulling her up with me. She allowed herself to lean on me, and we were starting for the 'fresher when we heard a knock on the door.

"Senator?" It was Typho. He had returned the day before, from escorting Ruwee and Jobal back to the Lake Country. "I have a message from Coruscant."

"Come in," Padmé called.

I started to protest. "Don't you think it could wait?"

"No," she said, "I want to find out now." I could see the fear in her eyes. She was just waiting for another crisis.

Typho opened the door and nodded briefly to the healer and me. "Jedi Skywalker, Healer Leoni," he said, then turned to Padmé. "Senator Naberrie--or is it Senator Skywalker?" he took Padmé's left hand, admiring the ring, then smiled at me. "I hear congratulations are in order."

We both nodded. "Yes, thank you," Padmé said.

"Anyway, as I was saying," the Captain continued, "the Senate has cast its nominations for Supreme Chancellor to replace Palpatine. You are one of the nominees, Senator."

I could almost see Padmé's brain working, processing this information, then she nodded. "Who else has been nominated?" she asked.

"Bail Organa of Alderaan and Aks Moe from Malastare."

His Royal Pompousness for Supreme Chancellor? Gods. There are worse things in the galaxy than Ki Adi-Mundi's class on planetary economics.

Padmé's eyes were closed, then she opened them slowly and nodded again. "I'll accept the nomination, Captain," she said. "I'll make the Senate aware of this as soon as I am able to return to Coruscant. I hope in this position, I am able to make a difference in the way the Republic has been run."

Captain Typho nodded. "Good luck, m'lady," he said, and exited the room.

The healer also said her goodbyes. "Don't keep her up, Jedi Skywalker," she said. "She's still weak."

I nodded. "I understand," I said.

She left I used my fingers to untangle Padmé's hair, then Force-floated the fluffy robe she loved into my arms. "Let's get you into that hot bath," I said, offering her my hand, allowing her to use it as support while she walked.

THE END (to be continued in Part 4: Coruscant)

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