Secrets and Suspicion (Book 1)

Love is All You Need

Anakin stepped in the door of his apartment. Even though Padmé was gone at work, he felt like the silence wasn't supposed to be there. Noise was supposed to be there. Anakin thought Padmé was at work, but truthfully, she was still there, being ill. She poked her head out of their door, and when she saw it was Anakin, she ran to him, the fastest she'd ever run.

Anakin felt her arms wrapped around him tightly. "Padmé, I'm back. I'm sorry I took longer than you thought."
He put his arms around her.

Padmé gripped the leather on his chest, burying her face in it, sobbing into it.

He knew about the false call that Count Dooku had given her about him being dead. Obi-Wan had received a call from her about it. Of course, Obi-Wan told him about it as soon as they boarded their cruisers before they left Florrum. It had been an interesting conversation, the whole thing being through their comlinks.

"It's okay. It's over now, I'm okay," Anakin said, comforting her. He set his head on top of hers.

"I love you so much. I love you," Padmé said.

"I love you too, Padmé. Shhh..." He moved his head down and kissed the side of her head. "Everything is okay now." He struggled at first, but eventually he pulled back from her, lifting her chin to gaze into his eyes. "Look at me. No matter what happens, I will always be with you. I know that you know that. And when it's my time to go, its my time to go. You know no one can control that. Okay? It's alright, Padmé."

"But-"

He quieted her down, tucking some of her hair behind her ear along with his lips touching hers, softly.

Padmé had to admit she couldn't resist those piercing blue eyes, his soft lips, his smile...everything about her husband, she loved. She wasn't the luckiest girl in the galaxy to have him just because of his striking physical features, but his handsome personality. He had a great sense of humor, he was defensive, strong, reckless... and so much more. She had so much to fall for with Anakin.

And the feeling when he kissed her...shivers ran down her spine. But she loved that feeling. She just loved even the feeling of her husband's presence.

A knock at the door. As always. There were too many interruptions in their lives. As soon as Anakin heard the knock, immediately the romance vaporized. He lifted his head and looked towards the door, looking away from Padmé's face. Padmé sadly left Anakin's comforting arms and walked towards the door. Anakin's quickest hiding place this time was behind the couch.

She opened the door to reveal Ahsoka. "I figured I'd knock this time."

Padmé laughed. "Well, thank you."

"Sure," Ahsoka said, making her way in the house. "Where's Anakin?"

When Ahsoka looked away towards Padmé, Anakin made it look like he was coming out of the kitchen. He didn't want Ahsoka to see he was hiding. "Did someone say my name?" he asked casually.

"Oh, hi! I heard you rescued one of the younglings that I took to get crystals." Ahsoka told Anakin.

"Oh, yeah. That was one of them?"

"Yeah. Katooni?"

"Yeah," Anakin said.

"I'm going to go lay down again," Padmé said.

"Again?" Anakin asked.

"I haven't been feeling well today. That's why I'm home from work."

"Oh. Do you need me to help you?"

"No, I'm fine," Padmé said, lightly touching her forehead. She walked to their bedroom.

Ahsoka watched her with her arms crossed, and so did Anakin. They looked at each other, Anakin's eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm going to go talk to her and make her feel better," Ahsoka said.

"What? That's my job! Don't worry Ahsoka, you don't have to go walk over there. I'll go talk to her and make her feel better," Anakin said, starting in the direction of his bedroom.

Ahsoka held her arm out and stopped him. "Wait, Master."

"What?"

"She needs some girl talk. All you could do to make her feel better is kiss her, which wouldn't make her feel any better. All that's doing is getting her mind off of what she really has to face, which is feeling bad."Ahsoka smirked.

"What? That's not true! I can do a lot more than that," Anakin said, offended.

"Yeah, right." Ahsoka sighed. "Well, I guess it's decided, then. I'm the one who's going to go help her." She walked a few feet, stopping in her tracks. "Just face it, Anakin. Girls are smarter and more helpful." She smiled and continued to walk on to Anakin and Padmé's room.