Post by dearben on Feb 11, 2011 17:28:32 GMT -5
“So. Which one do you want?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan as they walked out of the council chamber.
“Padawan, isn’t that always my decision?”
“Well of course. I just want to prepare myself for whatever hell I’m going to be put through.”
“Does it matter? We don’t know which one is worse. We just know one’s a Senator and one’s a Duchess. They’re both escort missions of the same nature. Most members of the elite society are stuck up so don’t take anything they say personally and just get through the mission.”
“So you don’t care.”
“No, I do not.”
“Well…” Anakin was thinking. Obi-Wan could tell the next thing out of his mouth was going to be stupid, “Which word do you like better?”
“What?”
“Duchess or Senator. Which word do you like better.”
“Is this how you decide everything, Anakin?”
“Not everything…” Obi-Wan sighed.
“Fine, I’ll bite. Duchess indicates royal family, so born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Snob from the beginning. Senator means money and manipulative enough to get elected.”
“You see no good in people.” Anakin interjected.
“Of course I see good in people. I’ve met the most humble of Senators and royalty in the galaxy. I’ve also met the most greed and idiotic.”
“So which is worse.”
“In my experience, royalty.” Obi-Wan sighed. “I don’t feel like dealing with it, so you can have the Duchess, I’ll take the Senator.”
Anakin rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, “Gee, thanks Master.”
~~~
10 Years Later
Padme stared out the window watching for a speeder to show up at the garage 20 levels down. The Temple’s symbol would be on the back to alert her it was him and he was safe. Coruscant’s sun had already set, but the moon silhouetted the Temple’s form from her window and it made her wonder if he was coming back tonight.
The door opened behind her and she assumed it would be the twins coming to get her so they could get ready for bed. The voice was much older and deeper than her 8-year-old son’s, and she turned around in surprise the instant she heard it.
“Hey, I’m back.” He stated simply.
She flung herself at him and she smiled uncontrollably as she buried her head in his shoulder. He held her up off of the ground with one arm wrapped around her for a moment then let her down quickly.
“I missed you so much, it’s been so lonely here without you and the kids have been asking if you were ever coming back…” she ranted now on the verge of tears mixed with sadness and joy.
“Hey, I’m fine. You knew I was coming home and I was fine.”
“I know, but anything could’ve happened in the last few days.” Obi-Wan pulled her back from his chest and lifted his hand from her back to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“You used your left hand.” She said, looking puzzled. He took his second hand away from her back and held it up for her to see. Wrapped all the way from his thumb to his elbow was a bacta wrap, glowing blue indicating it was currently healing cells.
“I’m fine. Please don’t freak out.” He tensed his face up, as if preparing for a verbal blow up.
“Just as long as you’re ok, I don’t care.” She threw her arms around him again, but let go after a few seconds and much more willingly.
“Dad!” Luke and Leia shouted in unison and ran to him. He knelt down to hug both of them at the same time.
“I missed you two so much!” Obi-Wan exclaimed.
“Dad, can we play now? PLEEEEASE?” Leia pleaded.
“You two have to go to bed. You can play all you want tomorrow.” Padme said logically.
“Mooom!”
“Yeah, Mooom!” Obi-Wan echoed, pouting at her. Padme rolled her eyes.
“I’m a single mother of three.”
“Mom’s annoyed. We better listen. Ill race you to see who can put their PJ’s on faster!” Obi-Wan challenged enthusiastically.
“Ok, GO!” Luke and Leia sprinted towards their room pulling and pushing to get in front of the other and slammed the door on the way out.
“You’re losing your race. Nice tactic though.”
“Thank you I try. I’ll tell them the story of how we met for bed, and they’ll go right to sleep since they’ll be grossed out and not want to hear any more.”
“You know exactly what they’ll do all the time.” She shook her head at him, “And what are you going to tell them about how we met?”
“Just how I had to go save you from the Trade Federation’s mercenaries and you didn’t think it was me so you kicked me in the balls. Thanks by the way. Then I’ll just say we kissed and they won’t want to hear any more.” A distant yell from Luke filled the air.
“Daad! Storytime!”
“I guess I better go.” He smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips before he walked off to the twins’ room.
He came out to the living room short after he had left, keeping the story quite short.
“So what are we going to do tonight?” He grinned from ear to ear knowing exactly what was going to happen tonight.
“Movie?”
“Whatever you want. I’ve been deprived of movies for months now. They stopped sending them to Christophsis.” Obi-Wan said. Only the slightest hint of war talk silenced Padme, who completely ignored his comment and searched for movies.
“Sex and the City. The movie.” She pulled it from the shelf and turned to him, looking for approval.
“Do I have to watch that?” He grumbled. She stared at him. “Ok, from that look I’m assuming you’ve figured out I secretly like watching that show with you.”
“We’re watching it. You want to see it just as bad as I do.”
They were content to watch the movie and cuddle together in silence for the better part of the movie, until Padme piped up.
“Do you ever wonder if we married the right people?”
“What?” Obi-Wan asked stunned.
“I mean what would’ve happened if I had married Anakin at the very beginning of the war like he wanted me to. We wouldn’t ever have been together.”
“So you’d rather be married to Anakin right now?”
“No, of course not. I just can’t help but wonder…” she stopped speaking, suddenly becoming very interested in the movie.
“Wonder what?” Obi-Wan pressed.
“Wonder if I had been with Anakin if he would’ve turned. Maybe I could’ve kept him happy. Maybe I could’ve talked some sense into him.” She stared straight ahead.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve changed what happened. He just spiraled down slowly. I reached out to him and I know you two used to talk a lot too. If he didn’t seek help from us when we offered it there was nothing else we could do.”
“If he was here there wouldn’t be a war anymore. You’d be home every day. You’d get to see your children every day. You miss so much, so many important things.” She croaked, obviously choked up, head now hanging low.
“Padme. I loved you from the moment we met, and even more ten years later when I was protecting you, and I finally told you on that escort mission. I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell you how I felt but I like to think even if you had seen Anakin, you still would’ve chosen me.” He put his finger under her chin and pushed it up so their eyes met, “You and fate made your decisions and everything worked out. Nothing would’ve changed. He would’ve left you behind.”
“I thought the future was always in motion.” She smiled sheepishly. He smiled back.
“You caught me.”
“Living with Jedi has taught me well.” The both sat in their lighthearted moment, dispelling the seriousness in the air.
“You know even if you’d ended up with Anakin somehow I would still have been there for you no matter what.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead to reassure her.
She wrapped her arms around him the second his lips left her forehead and pressed her head in his chest. He was stunned for a moment but then wrapped his arms around her, too. The action felt completely natural, they had done this a million times before. Something hit him midway through their embrace that scared him. A small thought that snuck into his head that he didn’t remember thinking. She belongs to Anakin. He pulled away and looked down at her getting the feeling that he shouldn’t be hugging her at this very moment in time and she looked up to him.
“What?” She looked puzzled.
“Nothing.” He stood up, his hand in hers to pull her up off of the couch coming to rest directly in front of him, “The movie’s over. Of course with the ending I predicted. These shows are always the same.“ The feeling that he shouldn’t be touching her remained within him.
Padme smiled, rolling her eyes, “You overanalyze everything, including movies. Can’t you just go with it?”
“No.”
“Come on.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Let’s go to bed.”
He said nothing, letting her lead him towards their room, still holding hands. The feeling persisted.
“I’m gonna check on the kids quick.” He said and turned to go back to their room in the opposite direction. Their hands lingered together for as long as they could before their fingers had to part. The second his hand left hers, he suddenly felt normal again. Like he was back in his world. The thought clung to his mind until he reached the twins’ room and he looked in at them. They were his children and Padme was his wife. Exactly how it should be. Luke opened his eyes a little and smiled at him, pulling his stuffed Wookiee in closer to him.
“Love you, Dad.”
“Love you too, Luke.”
This is how things were supposed to be. Every time he looked at those kids he knew everything was perfect, and this was how it was meant to be.
He turned and walked down the dark hallway to his bedroom and Mrs. Kenobi.
~~~~~~~
Great job Bonna! ;D
And be sure to leave the author some feedback!
“Padawan, isn’t that always my decision?”
“Well of course. I just want to prepare myself for whatever hell I’m going to be put through.”
“Does it matter? We don’t know which one is worse. We just know one’s a Senator and one’s a Duchess. They’re both escort missions of the same nature. Most members of the elite society are stuck up so don’t take anything they say personally and just get through the mission.”
“So you don’t care.”
“No, I do not.”
“Well…” Anakin was thinking. Obi-Wan could tell the next thing out of his mouth was going to be stupid, “Which word do you like better?”
“What?”
“Duchess or Senator. Which word do you like better.”
“Is this how you decide everything, Anakin?”
“Not everything…” Obi-Wan sighed.
“Fine, I’ll bite. Duchess indicates royal family, so born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Snob from the beginning. Senator means money and manipulative enough to get elected.”
“You see no good in people.” Anakin interjected.
“Of course I see good in people. I’ve met the most humble of Senators and royalty in the galaxy. I’ve also met the most greed and idiotic.”
“So which is worse.”
“In my experience, royalty.” Obi-Wan sighed. “I don’t feel like dealing with it, so you can have the Duchess, I’ll take the Senator.”
Anakin rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, “Gee, thanks Master.”
~~~
10 Years Later
Padme stared out the window watching for a speeder to show up at the garage 20 levels down. The Temple’s symbol would be on the back to alert her it was him and he was safe. Coruscant’s sun had already set, but the moon silhouetted the Temple’s form from her window and it made her wonder if he was coming back tonight.
The door opened behind her and she assumed it would be the twins coming to get her so they could get ready for bed. The voice was much older and deeper than her 8-year-old son’s, and she turned around in surprise the instant she heard it.
“Hey, I’m back.” He stated simply.
She flung herself at him and she smiled uncontrollably as she buried her head in his shoulder. He held her up off of the ground with one arm wrapped around her for a moment then let her down quickly.
“I missed you so much, it’s been so lonely here without you and the kids have been asking if you were ever coming back…” she ranted now on the verge of tears mixed with sadness and joy.
“Hey, I’m fine. You knew I was coming home and I was fine.”
“I know, but anything could’ve happened in the last few days.” Obi-Wan pulled her back from his chest and lifted his hand from her back to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“You used your left hand.” She said, looking puzzled. He took his second hand away from her back and held it up for her to see. Wrapped all the way from his thumb to his elbow was a bacta wrap, glowing blue indicating it was currently healing cells.
“I’m fine. Please don’t freak out.” He tensed his face up, as if preparing for a verbal blow up.
“Just as long as you’re ok, I don’t care.” She threw her arms around him again, but let go after a few seconds and much more willingly.
“Dad!” Luke and Leia shouted in unison and ran to him. He knelt down to hug both of them at the same time.
“I missed you two so much!” Obi-Wan exclaimed.
“Dad, can we play now? PLEEEEASE?” Leia pleaded.
“You two have to go to bed. You can play all you want tomorrow.” Padme said logically.
“Mooom!”
“Yeah, Mooom!” Obi-Wan echoed, pouting at her. Padme rolled her eyes.
“I’m a single mother of three.”
“Mom’s annoyed. We better listen. Ill race you to see who can put their PJ’s on faster!” Obi-Wan challenged enthusiastically.
“Ok, GO!” Luke and Leia sprinted towards their room pulling and pushing to get in front of the other and slammed the door on the way out.
“You’re losing your race. Nice tactic though.”
“Thank you I try. I’ll tell them the story of how we met for bed, and they’ll go right to sleep since they’ll be grossed out and not want to hear any more.”
“You know exactly what they’ll do all the time.” She shook her head at him, “And what are you going to tell them about how we met?”
“Just how I had to go save you from the Trade Federation’s mercenaries and you didn’t think it was me so you kicked me in the balls. Thanks by the way. Then I’ll just say we kissed and they won’t want to hear any more.” A distant yell from Luke filled the air.
“Daad! Storytime!”
“I guess I better go.” He smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips before he walked off to the twins’ room.
He came out to the living room short after he had left, keeping the story quite short.
“So what are we going to do tonight?” He grinned from ear to ear knowing exactly what was going to happen tonight.
“Movie?”
“Whatever you want. I’ve been deprived of movies for months now. They stopped sending them to Christophsis.” Obi-Wan said. Only the slightest hint of war talk silenced Padme, who completely ignored his comment and searched for movies.
“Sex and the City. The movie.” She pulled it from the shelf and turned to him, looking for approval.
“Do I have to watch that?” He grumbled. She stared at him. “Ok, from that look I’m assuming you’ve figured out I secretly like watching that show with you.”
“We’re watching it. You want to see it just as bad as I do.”
They were content to watch the movie and cuddle together in silence for the better part of the movie, until Padme piped up.
“Do you ever wonder if we married the right people?”
“What?” Obi-Wan asked stunned.
“I mean what would’ve happened if I had married Anakin at the very beginning of the war like he wanted me to. We wouldn’t ever have been together.”
“So you’d rather be married to Anakin right now?”
“No, of course not. I just can’t help but wonder…” she stopped speaking, suddenly becoming very interested in the movie.
“Wonder what?” Obi-Wan pressed.
“Wonder if I had been with Anakin if he would’ve turned. Maybe I could’ve kept him happy. Maybe I could’ve talked some sense into him.” She stared straight ahead.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve changed what happened. He just spiraled down slowly. I reached out to him and I know you two used to talk a lot too. If he didn’t seek help from us when we offered it there was nothing else we could do.”
“If he was here there wouldn’t be a war anymore. You’d be home every day. You’d get to see your children every day. You miss so much, so many important things.” She croaked, obviously choked up, head now hanging low.
“Padme. I loved you from the moment we met, and even more ten years later when I was protecting you, and I finally told you on that escort mission. I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell you how I felt but I like to think even if you had seen Anakin, you still would’ve chosen me.” He put his finger under her chin and pushed it up so their eyes met, “You and fate made your decisions and everything worked out. Nothing would’ve changed. He would’ve left you behind.”
“I thought the future was always in motion.” She smiled sheepishly. He smiled back.
“You caught me.”
“Living with Jedi has taught me well.” The both sat in their lighthearted moment, dispelling the seriousness in the air.
“You know even if you’d ended up with Anakin somehow I would still have been there for you no matter what.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead to reassure her.
She wrapped her arms around him the second his lips left her forehead and pressed her head in his chest. He was stunned for a moment but then wrapped his arms around her, too. The action felt completely natural, they had done this a million times before. Something hit him midway through their embrace that scared him. A small thought that snuck into his head that he didn’t remember thinking. She belongs to Anakin. He pulled away and looked down at her getting the feeling that he shouldn’t be hugging her at this very moment in time and she looked up to him.
“What?” She looked puzzled.
“Nothing.” He stood up, his hand in hers to pull her up off of the couch coming to rest directly in front of him, “The movie’s over. Of course with the ending I predicted. These shows are always the same.“ The feeling that he shouldn’t be touching her remained within him.
Padme smiled, rolling her eyes, “You overanalyze everything, including movies. Can’t you just go with it?”
“No.”
“Come on.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Let’s go to bed.”
He said nothing, letting her lead him towards their room, still holding hands. The feeling persisted.
“I’m gonna check on the kids quick.” He said and turned to go back to their room in the opposite direction. Their hands lingered together for as long as they could before their fingers had to part. The second his hand left hers, he suddenly felt normal again. Like he was back in his world. The thought clung to his mind until he reached the twins’ room and he looked in at them. They were his children and Padme was his wife. Exactly how it should be. Luke opened his eyes a little and smiled at him, pulling his stuffed Wookiee in closer to him.
“Love you, Dad.”
“Love you too, Luke.”
This is how things were supposed to be. Every time he looked at those kids he knew everything was perfect, and this was how it was meant to be.
He turned and walked down the dark hallway to his bedroom and Mrs. Kenobi.
~~~~~~~
Great job Bonna! ;D
And be sure to leave the author some feedback!
