The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Seven

Chapter Thirty-Six: Padme's Return/ Imminent Danger

ANAKIN SKYWALKER

Anakin watched as she took a few careful steps towards him. Her eyes were full of tears, but there was a half-hopeful smile on her face. She was exactly the way he remembered her, except that her hair was longer. Her outfit was different than the ones she would weag in his dreams, but she was just as beautiful as ever.

“Padme… Oh, my Angel,” he whispered. She took another few steps towards him, still hesitant.

Suddenly she made a flying leap into his arms. Sobbing on his shoulder, she managed to choke out, “Oh, Ani! My Ani!”

Tears running down his own face, he held her tightly, even picking her up and twirling her around. “Angel… It’s you! It’s really you!”

Putting her down, he buried his face in her sweet-smelling chestnut curls. He wanted to laugh and cry and run around. He had his beloved Padme back.

He cupped her face in his hands, tilting her face up towards his. He looked into her eyes. She was one of those people who even looked beautiful when they were crying, with tiny tear droplets in her luscious dark lashes and pouting lips.

He reached down, very carefully, and pressed his lips to hers. Fireworks went off in his mind, and suddenly it was just like they were back on Naboo all those years ago. Padme took his face in her hands as well, kissing him back with all the pain and longing and love she had ever known.

After a long and wonderful kiss, she pulled away. “Ani… I missed you so much. I love you,” she murmured.

He kissed her briefly on the lips again. “I know. I love you,” he replied.

She tucked her face into the crook of his neck again, her fingers with their perfectly manicured nails tangling in his messy brown hair. They simply held each other for a long time, overjoyed to be together again.

“How, Padme? How are you here? You… you died!”

She planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll explain everything, Anakin. I just can’t find the words to do it right now. I’m so, so happy…”

“I know, Angel. I have some things to explain too, but they can wait.” Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and a smiled appeared on his lips. “First, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet…”

AHSOKA TANO

A few hours later, Ahsoka sat in the copilot’s seat of the New Hope, meditating. Or at least, she was trying to, but Lux, who was flying the ship through hyperspace and towards Tatooine, wouldn’t stop kissing her. After another sneaky peck on the cheek, she finally opened her eyes.

“Quit it, you! I’m trying to concentrate!” she said, trying to hide a smile.

“Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll stop.”

It was quiet for a few minutes. Then, lo and behold, another lightening-fast kiss, this time on her shoulder. “Lux!” she said in a scolding tone, turning towards him, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

It was apparently the opportunity he had been waiting for. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips. When they both stopped for air, she managed to say, “Why you sneaky little–”

Then he cut her off again with another kiss. Her resolve broken, she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him. Lux was impossible sometimes, but she could never resist it when he kissed her.

Suddenly she felt something, an enormous tremor in the Force. She pulled away, tilting her head in the direction it was coming from. Right on cue, the ship left hyperspace, and she could see where the manifestation of what felt like the Dark Side was coming from. It was coming from a ship orbiting Tatooine!

Her eyes widened in fear. “Lux, get us out of here, now!”

And that was when the other ship began firing at them.

*Padme Amidala, the beautiful Senator for Naboo, thought dead by all that knew her, is alive. Though how, or why, Anakin doesn't know. What could be the reason behind her sudden reappearance? And what has happened to Ahsoka and Lux? It would seem that they've fallen into a trap. But who set it? And why? You'll find out in the next chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Become Senator for Naboo because the Queen has asked you to and may the Force be wih you,

Sharron