(Star Wars) - Possessive Beast #Wattys2017

ii

It was late in the evening when Padmé finally woke up.

She stirred from the warm, sunken spot of her palette; her eyes finding a concerned-looking stranger a few feet away with Rex, Cordé, Dormé and another stranger in medical robes speaking in whispers. As she shifted on the bean bag, all five beings immediately were at her side. "Are you alright, Miss Padmé?" Cordé rushed forward first, taking the girl's hand. "I'm fine... What's going on? Did I do something wrong?" Padmé instantly began to worry, seeing the concerned stranger come forward.

"You've slept through all of yesterday and today... You've been sleeping for more than twenty-four hours, Padmé." Whoever this tall man was, he was extremely handsome. He had longish blonde hair that licked at his shoulders, a statuesque-chiseled face with bright cobalt eyes, broad shoulders, muscles that almost looked to be stretching out his clothes; this stranger was a handsome giant in the slave girl's eyes. "Forgive me, sir but who are you? I've only arrived yesterday..." She gulped, looking at the pillows beside her feet. Cordé stepped back, allowing the man to take a knee in her previous position. "My name is Anakin Skywalker... I am Vader's eyes and ears in the palace as well as wherever his Holiness commands it, more specifically in his absence." He gave her a soft smile, carefully bringing the back of one of her hands to his lips. "He left during the late hours of last night and left me here in charge while he is away. He said to keep him updated on your progress settling in, as he put it." Padmé nodded, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

Vader had essentially left her to be babysat by the striking man in front of her.

"Forgive me, Master Skywalker. I didn't mean to sleep for so long..." Padmé bowed her head, ready to be scolded. "I'm just Anakin to you, my dear... This is Doctor Nevaeh, the palace physician. His Holiness as well as Master Rex feel that you need to be given an examination. After your extra-long nap, all of us here want to make sure you're healthy by the time His Holiness returns tomorrow." Anakin gave her a reassuring smile as the old man - Doctor Nevaeh - slowly approached her. While the women observed Padmé's examination, Anakin pulled Rex aside out of earshot of the group.

"I want you to find out as much as you can about her past... Any prior medical conditions, family life, slaver records... I want to know if she's had any sort of episode similar to the one we just witnessed." Anakin commanded, his irises turning from their mortal hue to his smoky black all-seeing eyes. "Yes, Holy One..." Rex immediately bowed, ready to serve their master. "She is not to know that I am Vader any time soon so if she shows signs of solving my masquerade, I want you to divert her from such suspicions." He added, stepping around his to peek at the doctor's progress. "As you command, Holy One." The blonde mortal nodded his understanding, knowing it would be better for the time being if the girl was left in the dark. "With your permission, Holy One, I would like to put in the order to have a room made up for the girl."

"No..." Anakin gently growled, shaking his head softly. "I want her as close to my curtain as possible. Something about her presence... It's too precious for her to stray away from my side. I've never encountered such a thing in a mortal, even other immortals for that matter." Rex nodded once again, knowing not to argue. "Perhaps I could at least have Cordé and Dormé's parlor turned into a closet for Miss Padmé... Their spa is within a hundred feet from your curtain room, roughly the same number of steps from her palette." He suggested, knowing the girl at least needed some sort of privacy for changing and bathing purposes. "Of course, I can agree to that... The last thing I command of you is to have the traveller gates closed for the next three days. I'd like to give Padmé time to fall into her role comfortably." Anakin sighed, watching the old man withdraw a needle from the girl's arm. "As you command, Holy One." Rex bowed, silently taking his leave from behind his Master.

Anakin took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down enough to turn his eyes back to blue again. Something about this young, mortal girl awoke this unknown feeling within him... He'd never felt so possessive of another being, not even the mortals he befriended. Hell, the idea of Padmé having her own personal quarters away from him nearly set him off which would've led to him transforming back into his true form...